The controversy
Wakai argues that Hawai’i “needs to be part of the nuclear discussion” and the Legislature is scheduled to take up the issue this year, armed with a task force report on the near-term potential of the technology on the islands.
But he and others agree that nuclear presents significant hurdles, not least a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to overturn the constitutional ban.
Community sentiment toward nuclear projects is likely to be skeptical at best and hostile from a number of quarters, including environmentalists. And while SMRs are getting a lot of attention globally, including in the U.S. military, they have yet to be built into the United States. (The first ones in the U.S. won’t come online until the early 2030s.)
Greenpeace Hawaii’s Mulinix says he was “very surprised” when he first heard that lawmakers wanted to investigate the feasibility of using nuclear power on the islands. “The fact that nuclear power is not safe, clean, cheap or efficient is settled science,” he says. “Regulators have searched for more than 70 years for a permanent disposal site and have yet to find a safe place across the country to store nuclear waste. The nuclear waste we create in Hawaii would be stuck here.”
He adds that shipping radioactive waste out of state would hardly be considered green. “And why would we want to burden and contaminate someone else’s house with our radioactive waste for thousands of years? That’s not pono.”
The State is committed to reducing energy costs
Gov. Josh Green, meanwhile, says that while his office is closely monitoring the “rumor associated” around SMRs as a “promising source of carbon-free electricity” and waiting for more details, he and his team are more focused on “what we can realistically do to reduce energy costs and create a more reliable energy ecosystem in the next five years.”
For Green, that “what” includes forming a partnership with Japanese power producer JERA Co. Inc. to create a so-called bridge to energy sovereignty with more affordable alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas or LNG, which is still a fossil fuel but burns cleaner and is more efficient than oil.
Advocates argue it would provide the grid with more security as the state continues to move toward a more renewable energy future. Opponents, however, say the LNG upgrades are a waste of money and a step in the wrong direction. Sherry Pollack, co-founder of 350Hawai’i, says LNG isn’t clean or cheap, and instead of solving the state’s energy challenges, it will exacerbate them. “The fossil fuel industry uses ‘greenwashing’ to market it as a clean or transition fuel, but each stage of LNG’s life cycle emits powerful greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere,” he says. “In terms of the announced cost reduction and building resilience, LNG would do the opposite. The volatility of LNG prices is a well-established fact.
“Every dollar spent on LNG would set us back by delaying our investment and transition to truly clean renewable energy.”
Green believes the state is moving toward its mandates, pointing to an executive order he issued in January 2025 that aims to keep the state on a more aggressive renewable energy schedule and streamline energy permits. “The state’s plan is to partner with well-capitalized partners who share our values on affordability, energy reliability and a fully renewable, decarbonized future,” he says. “The state is acutely aware that O’ahu is a more difficult place to achieve these goals due to land constraints and population density. That’s why we can’t afford to further delay the push for more efficient power generation and cheaper, lower-carbon fuels like natural gas.”
With none of the islands self-sufficient on renewable energy alone, Hawai’i continues to import millions of gallons of crude each year to fuel what the state Energy Office has dubbed an “aging and largely inefficient fleet of power plants.” In fact, according to the US Energy Information Administration, oil accounts for 90% of Hawaii’s energy consumption, more than any other state. (The state’s last coal plant, which provided 20 percent of O’ahu’s power, closed in 2022.)
