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- Rep. Carl Albrecht proposes HB249 to establish a nuclear energy consortium in Utah.
- The consortium will include state officials, energy experts, and representatives from the Idaho National Laboratory.
- Nuclear energy is emphasized as a priority for economic and energy development in Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — A GOP lawmaker with decades of experience in the energy sector is seeking to establish a nuclear energy coalition to prepare the state for deployment of the next generation technology.
Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, is sponsoring HB249 this session. Albrecht spent 40 years with Garkane Energy, with 23 of those years as its chief executive officer.
His measure would create the Utah Energy Council, establishes parameters for energy development zones and creates the Nuclear Energy Consortium.
The latter would have members that include a member of the state Senate, the House of Representatives, the director of the Office of Energy Development, as well as the executive directors of the natural resources and environmental quality and the chair of the Public Service Commission.
Other members could include a representative of the Idaho Nation Laboratory, the nation's premier federal research facility dedicated to nuclear research, universities, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, energy providers, nuclear fuel manufacturing and experts in nuclear safety, waste management and workforce development.
Top GOP lawmakers have made energy a top priority for this session and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox unveiled Operation Gigawatt in October that seeks to double the state's energy production in a decade.
Both Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, and state Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, made clear at a Park City conference hosted by INL and the Atlantic Council that nuclear energy must be part of Utah's future — both from an energy benefit but also as an economic development tool.
The Frontiers Project meeting was a daylong event hosted by the Idaho National Laboratory, located just a few hours from Salt Lake City.
The project is an initiative of the Idaho National Laboratory established in 2021 to foster and support eight states creating economic development plans focused on the deployment of advanced nuclear technology.
Utah has been identified as 1 of 4 "first mover" states that have developed strong partnerships with INL to get to that deployment stage. The initiative for first movers also includes other states in the West, such as Idaho and Wyoming. Alaska is on the list as well.
Adams, speaking at the conference, said Utah is well-positioned to lead the country in the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies. He said he is particularly interested in microreacters which are small and can easily be deployed to act as backup baseload power for emergency dispatch centers, the military and hospitals. They would also send energy to the grid and curtail emissions in manufacturing.
"I want some of the first ones in Utah, and I think we can, and they aren't big, and we know that, but they can be mass produced in a very controlled environment, and they ought to be able to be permitted as they hit the ground," he said at the conference. "I want them in Utah, and I want them next year. So let's get going. Utah has some of the lowest energy prices in the entire nation and I want to keep that going."
Deployment of advanced nuclear technologies is not without its struggles and detractors. The costs became too high for the Carbon Free Power Project by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, which is made up of communities and special districts who sought to have nuclear power as baseload power as regulatory pressure mounts on fossil fuels. The small modular reactor would have been located at the Idaho National Laboratory, with more units installed as needed.
Critics such as the Utah Taxpayers Association warned cities about unsustainable electrical rates but UAMPS has said it has not totally abandoned the project if the time comes when it is suitable to pursue. The planned small modular reactor had to wind its way through the laborious regulatory process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission but was the first in the country to receive a favorable design certification.
In Eagle Mountain, planning commissioners voted 3-2 last week to disapprove of an ordinance change on new energy sources, which would have included small modular reactors. On Tuesday, the city council tabled the discussion until after the legislative session.
