Idaho’s Governor created a permanent commission Wednesday to help protect the nuclear industry in Idaho. This was one of several recommendations made by a five member panel known as the Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission.
Governor Butch Otter used his executive authority to create the Leadership in Nuclear Energy or LINE Commission 2.0 this week. The new members of the commission haven’t been announced. But they will be made up of state leaders, educators and from Idaho’s nuclear energy industry.
Otter fears that federal budget cuts will diminish the role of the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho and hurt those in the nuclear industry that rely on the lab. The INL creates 24,000 direct and indirect jobs through the many sub-contractors that do work there.
LINE 2.0 will give advice to the governor but won’t have the authority to make decisions. The commission members will oversee the implementation of several recommendations the first LINE Commission made last month.