US installs solar panels on former nuclear weapons sites to power 70,000 homes

Across the country, lands set aside for the eventual destruction of the world are now home to infrastructure intended to save it.

Sites managed by the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons division now host solar farms that are expected to be able to power thousands of homes.

Under a government program called Cleanup to Clean Energy, the Idaho National Laboratory, although never itself home to nuclear weapons, will soon be the site of a 400-megawatt distributed solar farm on 2,800 acres.

Although the project timeline has not been released, a lease has been negotiated for the INL project with Massachusetts-based solar developer NorthRenew Energy for 300 megawatts of solar power.

Another developer called Spitfire secured a lease for 100 megawatts and another 500 of battery storage, according to Elektek.

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Other sites including the Hanford Site in Washington State, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the Nevada National Security Site in Nevada, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina , are all considered good candidates for the program.

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“Working closely with community leaders and private sector partners, we are cleaning up land once used in our nuclear deterrent programs and deploying the clean energy solutions we need to help save the planet and strengthen our energy independence,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer. Granholm.

None of these sites ever hosted nuclear weapons, but rather were sites for testing, training, and production of nuclear materials such as plutonium, or their disposal.

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