Mountain West states prepare for nuclear breakthrough Image By EPN Staff Support for emerging nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), is growing across the Mountain West states, with construction of next-generation facilities under way and new pro-nuclear policies drawing fresh support in Colorado and neighboring states. Why it matters Nuclear accounts for nearly 20% of electricity generation in the U.S., and it generates nearly half of the country’s carbon-free electricity. With energy demands projected to grow, nuclear is increasingly recognized as an important source that can reliably meet public need while still achieving environmental and carbon-reduction goals. Fifty-four nuclear power plants currently operate in the U.S., although none operate in Mountain West states. That could soon change. In Kemmerer, Wyoming, crews broke ground last year on a first-of-its-kind nuclear reactor near a former coal mine. The facility, which will use a sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage, has been touted as cheaper and smaller than standard reactors. Construction is targeted to take five years. In Colorado, Democratic leaders have joined Republican legislators to champion HB25-1040, which would recategorize nuclear power as a “clean energy resource,” opening avenues to grants and other considerations. It marks a bipartisan turn for legislation historically carried by Republican state Sen. Larry Liston of Colorado Springs. In Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox and the legislature approved similar legislation designating nuclear as clean energy last year. They’re pushing forward this year on initiatives to create a nuclear energy consortium and boost nuclear generation. In Idaho, Oklo is designing a liquid metal-cooled small modular reactor and targeting construction in 2027 at the Idaho National Laboratory, the state’s sixth-largest employer. Oklo reps have testified in Colorado on pro-nuclear legislation; U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, of Colorado, was on Oklo’s board but resigned after the Senate confirmed his nomination. In Arizona, the state’s three biggest utilities recently announced plans to explore new nuclear technologies as they eye an expansion of the state’s nuclear power generation. The bigger picture Across the country, officials are working to reopen decommissioned plants at: The Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania. The Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. The Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Additional work is being performed to site new facilities. Early site permits have previously been issued in Clinch River, Tennessee, and North Anna, Virginia. Virginia has a series of new nuclear projects and activities in development or under consideration, including the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant near Richmond. Additional context SMRs are considered the next generation in nuclear power production. The reactors are smaller and less expensive to build than conventional reactors. They can be assembled in a factory and transported to sites including rural areas. Compared to traditional reactors, they have simpler designs that include active and passive systems for emergency intervention making them inherently safer than larger systems. They also require less fuel. In fact, some SMR reactors can operate on the same fuel for three decades. More than 80 SMR models are in various stages of design, approval, and construction around the world.
