Iowa towns eye nuclear comeback to boost local economies

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PALO — At Whiskey River Grill, a bar and restaurant that sits a couple miles from the decommissioned Duane Arnold Energy Center, co-owner Lacey Christiansen remembers when the lunch crowd was steady, fueled by technicians and operators coming off shifts at Iowa’s only nuclear plant.

“When we first opened six years ago, they were still up and running, and there was just a lot more lunch business,” Christiansen said. “We definitely saw a decline after it all closed down.”

Now, with plant owner NextEra Energy weighing a plan to restart operations at Duane Arnold by the end of the decade , Christiansen sees reason for optimism.

“I haven’t heard anything negative about it,” she said. “We hear,