Poll shows many Utahns support lawmakers' plan to pursue small nuclear plants

SALT LAKE CITY — It took some wrangling, many iterations and a flurry of action during the final night of the state Legislature, but a bill that sets Utah on an exploratory path to pursue small nuclear plants as a power source gained endorsement by lawmakers.

HB249, sponsored by Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, establishes a framework called the nuclear consortium made of top elected leaders, policymakers and experts in the nuclear industry, such as representatives from Idaho National Laboratory. It also sets up the Utah Energy Council and provides for energy zones.

The pursuit, at this stage, has buy-in from the Utah public, with 49% who say they are in favor of the idea, while 31% are in opposition, and another 19% are undecided according to a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.

Those numbers are based on the polling of 805 registered voters in an assessment conducted Feb.18-25 by HarrisX Interactive. It has a margin of error of plus or minus of 3.1%.

Albrecht said the numbers reflected in the poll are about where he figured the state would land.

"I figured there'd be 50% in favor and about 25 to 30% opposed," he said. "I don't have a problem with that. You know, there's got to be a lot of education done."

Of course the measure does not mean a nuclear facility is going to pop up overnight.

There's a lot of research to be done. There is site suitability, the costs involved, the fuel source has to be figured out and identifying energy development zones.

Not this year or next

All this is going to take time. There are safety considerations and the issue of waste.

There is also a protracted and expensive regulatory process. It took over $500 million and millions of pages of documents for the NuScale project at Idaho National Laboratory to serve some Utah cities, but it ultimately failed because of costs and licensing duration.

Last year, however, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan piece of legislation into law called the ADVANCE Act.

World Nuclear News reported the law is designed to accomplish an expedited process for advanced nuclear technologies.

"The ADVANCE Act, among other things, directs the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to look for ways to speed up its licensing process for new nuclear technology," it reported.

"It will reduce regulatory costs for companies seeking to license advanced nuclear reactor technologies, as well as creating a "prize" to incentivize the successful deployment of next-generation reactor technologies. It will also direct the NRC to enhance its ability to qualify and license accident-tolerant fuels and advanced nuclear fuels."

Again, all this is going to take time, but Albrecht emphasized during testimony at the state Legislature that Utah has to start somewhere.

With data centers knocking on the doors of states looking to set up shop, legislative supporters say who gets it right to meet the energy demand will build a stronger, more diverse economic community.

Utah's advantage

The Idaho National Laboratory has identified the Beehive State as one of a handful of states across the nation ideally suited to pursue nuclear as an energy source and as a vehicle for economic development.

The Frontiers Initiative, established three years ago, seeks to marry the efforts of eight states that are creating economic development plans focused on the use of advanced nuclear energy. Utah is among half of those states designated as a state that is uniquely positioned and ahead of the game in this arena.

"We have strengthened our position with stakeholders in first mover states — Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Alaska — while adding engagements where increasing interest in advanced nuclear energy intersects with industry needs, including in Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, and South Carolina," said Steve Aumeier, senior adviser at INL, has said.

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