It isn’t the actual control room of the Duane Arnold Energy Center, but the training center that officially opened Monday is a nearly exact visual replica.
And for providing critical instruction to the operators that would staff a restarted Duane Arnold nuclear power plant, that’s exactly the point, NextEra Energy representatives stressed at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday for the temporary training center, housed in a former call center building at 929 Marthas Way in Hiawatha.
“As we bring Iowa’s only nuclear power plant back online, preparing a highly trained workforce is an imperative to [operating] safely and being responsible,” said NextEra vice president of regional oversight Dave Sluszka, who is filling a key role in both the proposed power plant restart and the development of the training center.
The temporary center, which is already training the first class of 40 licensed operators for the plant, is highlighted by an exact glass-panel replica of the actual Duane Arnold control room, right down to the exact position of the knobs, dials and gauges that monitor and govern the facility.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Temporary Duane Arnold training facility to open later this spring
“Before an operator ever even steps into the real control room, they’ll have proven themselves by practicing routine operations and challenging scenarios in the simulator,” Mr. Sluszka said. “Operator training is not quick or casual. It typically takes up to two years to earn a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.”
Hiawatha mayor Steve Dodson also spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, highlighting the potential economic impact of a restarted Duane Arnold.
According to a recent economic study, he said, Duane Arnold is expected to generate more than $8 billion in economic benefits in Linn County over a 25-year operating period. And that’s according to a recent economic study.
It’s also expected to generate over $320 million in annual economic activity in Linn County, and $346 million statewide. It would provide more than $75 million in tax revenue over its 25-year operational plan, including more than $41 million for the Cedar Rapids Community School District, more than $26 million for Linn County and more than $4 million for Kirkwood Community College.
Monday’s ribbon-cutting also included a guided tour of the Duane Arnold control room simulator, including a simulated emergency demonstration scenario that involved the detection of vibrations in the turbine that turns the plant’s main generator, leading to a shutdown of the nuclear reactor.
As sirens sounded and screens flashed, NextEra trainers relayed commands and observations throughout the scenario, which was described as a severity of “four or five” on a 10-point scale.
Two more classes of licensed operators will be trained at the facility, with trainees actively being recruited for classes that will start in July 2026 and January 2027. The goal is to have about 100 licensed operators trained before the plant’s projected reopening in the first quarter of 2029.
According to Mr. Sluszka, nuclear operator licensing exams are approved and overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure that candidates meet strict federal safety and performance standards.
Even after operators are licensed, they continue with training updates every six weeks to maintain proficiency and readiness.
“This level of preparation is one of the reasons why nuclear professionals are among the most highly trained workers in any industry,” he said. “Nuclear operations demand rigor, discipline and excellence long before a plant ever produces power, and our training facility will do that.”
Candidates for the Duane Arnold training program are required to have at least six months of experience at a nuclear facility, and many have STEM backgrounds, NextEra officials said.
The exams themselves are rigorous, with candidates required to demonstrate the capability to control numerous aspects of plant operations and respond to potential malfunctions.
They also must attain a minimum score of 80% on a written exam.
The training center will also instruct non-licensed operators, which will serve as the “eyes and ears” on the plant floor. Those operators go through a one-year training course, along with continuing training sessions.
The ribbon-cutting and open house also included an update on the restart process for the plant itself, which was shut down in the wake of the 2020 derecho and has since been in a decommissioning state.
Garrett Goldfinger, NextEra’s lead developer on the Duane Arnold restart project, noted that in 2024, NextEra began evaluating the potential of restarting operations at the nuclear power plant, “in response to what the U.S. is seeing as a historic rise in demand for energy, especially for high capacity baseload power like Duane Arnold provided in the past.”
Locally, that demand is being spurred largely by the development of two large data center projects on the south side of Cedar Rapids. NextEra worked with Linn County on a rezoning plan for the Duane Arnold site beginning in early 2025, including a nuclear zoning amendment to govern construction and potential operation of the plant.
And in October 2025, NextEra announced a power purchase agreement with the Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) and Google, under which Google will purchase nearly all of the plant’s electrical output for 25 years.
Mr. Goldfinger said the training center represents “well over a year’s work to get to an important milestone like today.”
“The training facility that will be constructed on the Duane Arnold site will be a state-of-the-art nuclear operations facility,” he said. “You can think of this as like the Top Gun school for nuclear operators. Similar to piloting an aircraft, you’ll need to go through multiple years of training to even touch the controls on a real reactor.”
Ray Wheaton, director of restart operations for Duane Arnold, said a number of facilities on the Duane Arnold site are due to be demolished and reconstructed in the next 18 months as part of the restart process, including the permanent training facility, a new maintenance facility and new cooling towers.
“It’ll be a much cleaner and much simpler layout,” he said.
The equipment at the temporary Hiawatha training center, including the glass-panel simulator, will be relocated to the Duane Arnold site once the new training facility is complete.
Mr. Wheaton noted that about 110 people have been hired back for training and operations so far, many of whom worked at Duane Arnold during its previous operation. About 420 permanent employees are expected to be in place by the end of the restart project, he said.
The restart approval process itself remains a work in progress. Mr. Goldfinger said NextEra filed its application for a generating certificate for the plant in November, and the IUC is holding a hearing Tuesday at Kirkwood Community College to discuss the details of that application.
The restart also requires approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which visited Cedar Rapids last week for an open discussion of the reinstatement of Duane Arnold’s operating license.
The NRC’s evaluation is ongoing, Mr. Wheaton said.
“We don’t see any impediments to that going forward,” he said, “and we look forward to them completing that review in the next year to 18 months.”
