IDAHO FALLS — Facing political pressure and stringent new regulations for aging coal-fired power plants, many utility companies around the country are looking at the future with a new set of glasses that demands an alternative that will provide reliable, recurring power to the electrical grid.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the founder and chairman of TerraPower, is pursuing deployment of at least five more Natrium reactors in the West by 2035, including Utah. One hiccup is that Russia is the only commercial provider of the necessary fuel, called HALEU, or low-enriched uranium, and the war in Ukraine disrupted that supply. It cannot be easily overcome, resulting in a delay for Natrium by as much as two years in Wyoming. The federal government is working to find alternative sources.
Christine King, the DOE's director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear, said the research showed that the most valuable connection in the site analysis was connection to the grid, the transmission, existing substations and even the administration buildings. According to a news story by WyoFile, Kemmerer, Wyoming, is a tiny boom and bust town of 2,800 people, many of whom were packing up boxes, selling houses and businesses after the announcement of the planned retirement of PacifiCorp's Naughton coal-fired power plant. When Natrium rolls in, it needs to support an additional workforce of 2,000 people during the construction phase.
"We are embracing nuclear in our community," he said. "We would be in a big world of hurt if we did not have this plant." In Utah's Emery County, designated to host the Natrium reactors at its pair of power plants, Sen. Dave Hinkins, R-Orangeville, said there is optimism.