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Neal Smith’s Nuclear Site to Prairie Transformation
Iowa once planned to build nuclear towers in Jasper County. During the 1970s energy crisis, Iowa Power bought 3,600 acres of farmland for a power plant.
Then the economy shifted. By the late 1980s, the nuclear dream died, but Congressman Neal Smith saw a chance.
He got a tip from his friend on the Iowa Power board and moved fast. In 1990, Smith pushed a $6 million bill through Congress to buy the land…