PHOENIX — Much of rural Arizona could soon be dotted with small “modular” nuclear reactors.
Legislation approved by the Senate and awaiting a House vote would strip supervisors in the 13 rural counties — everywhere but Maricopa and Pima — from being able to use zoning or other land-use regulations to prohibit them from being located in certain places there.
The measure is aimed, at least partly, at allowing these reactors to be placed where there once were coal-fired power plants without additional review. The idea is there already is the infrastructure, mainly in high-voltage power lines, to distribute the power generated.
