DHHL meetings on geothermal energy exploration

[MyManao]

I support nuclear energy, whether it's fission or fusion, but neither is suitable for Hawaii.
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Please explain why not.

The most obvious, to me, is that the state of nuclear technology is predicated on the deployment of facilities that are far too big for our needs and very little has been done in a practical sense on building out mini-reactors. And, on top of that, our laws prohibit development. Both issues are noted in the Recommendations and Conclusion section of the Advanced Nuclear Power Technologies in Hawai‘i Report to the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, Regular Session of 2026 which states..

HSEO asserts that existing State laws are adequate to address current concerns associated with nuclear energy. Conventional nuclear reactor design leads to power plants being too large for the State, often in the 1,000MW range, and very few advanced nuclear reactor designs, such as Small Modular Reactors, have been built around the world. Consequently, this solution is not currently a match for the State in terms of cost or technical readiness. As such, specific impacts on health, the environment, and electricity bills remain hard to articulate and discuss in an actionable way.

Modifications to two key state laws that currently restrict nuclear development—1) Article XI, Section 8 of the Hawai‘i Constitution, and 2) Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §269-91, the State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, would be required and would be subject to approval by the State Legislature. HSEO does not recommend any amendments to the State Constitution or the Renewable Portfolio Standard to accommodate nuclear energy at this time. No proposed legislation is included in this report.

Overall the report goes into great detail of Nuclear Power and the obstacles of it being deployed here.

Which brings us back to geothermal, the one renewable technology that has the ability to meet all our needs and scale up to meet any future needs, all with very little use of the land, and practically no waste. That's why having the DHHL lead the way at this point is such a good idea. Not only are they motivated to meet their own needs, but by them, rather than haoles, dealing with the (don't mess with Pele) taboos that haunt the industry it has a far better chance of being embraced overall in the future.