State leaders want Utah to produce far more energy in the coming years. They’re betting big on nuclear power to get there.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox hopes to commit over $20 million to developing nuclear power infrastructure across the state this year. Senate President Stuart Adams has proposed making Utah “one of the nuclear headquarters for the world.”
Specifically, officials want to make it easier to build advanced nuclear reactors that are far smaller than traditional nuclear power plants. These smaller reactors are touted by proponents as safe options that produce less waste and can be tailored to specific energy needs.
But nuclear energy brings plenty of risks: the waste it produces is dangerously radioactive, reactors are expensive and past accidents like those at Three Mile Island and Fukushima cast a shadow on its future.
Utah is already laying the groundwork for several small nuclear projects. The state hopes to build dozens of microreactors on military property, and the Utah Inland Port Authority is considering developing microreactors in Emery County. Meanwhile, the state is pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to loosen licensing requirements for small nuclear reactors.
So why does Utah want to invest so heavily in nuclear energy? And what, exactly, are the small modular reactors and microreactors that state leaders want to bring in? Here’s what to know.
Why does Utah want to go nuclear?
What are small modular reactors and microreactors?
Are SMRs and microreactors — and nuclear energy in general — safe?
How soon could SMRs and microreactors be in Utah?
Where would nuclear waste from SMRs and microreactors go?
How much water would commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors use?
How much would commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors cost?
Are there any commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors producing energy outside the U.S.?
Why does Utah want to develop nuclear energy?
Nuclear energy is a carbon-free power source produced by breaking atoms apart inside a reactor, a process called fission. Unlike coal and other fossil fuels, this type of energy doesn’t directly produce planet-warming emissions like carbon dioxide and is incredibly dense; just a soda can’s worth of nuclear fuel could satisfy the average American’s energy needs for their lifetime, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Utah leaders like Gov. Cox believe the state is facing an energy crisis caused by population growth, demand for artificial intelligence and more electric vehicles on the roads. They have presented nuclear energy as a possible solution.
Gov. Cox announced “Operation Gigawatt” last fall, a plan to double Utah’s energy production within the decade by “enhancing Utah’s policies to enable clean, reliable energy like nuclear.” In that plan, Cox proposes putting $20.4 million toward bringing nuclear power to Utah, but the Legislature must approve that spending.
“Operation Gigawatt is critical to preserving our quality of life and ensuring strong economic growth,” Cox said in an October statement. “It puts Utah in a position to lead the country in energy development, secure our energy future and remain a net energy exporter while diversifying and expanding our energy resources.”
What are small modular reactors and microreactors?
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Small modular reactors, or SMRs, and microreactors work like any other nuclear reactor: they harness the energy from nuclear fission to produce steam, which then powers a turbine and creates electricity. But they differ from traditional nuclear reactors in several ways.
SMRs produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity, or about one-third the output of a traditional nuclear plant. That amount of electricity could power roughly 300,000 homes.
They are also far smaller, ranging anywhere between one-quarter to one-tenth of the footprint of a traditional reactor, according to the Idaho National Laboratory. The lab says one SMR model proposed by the company NuScale could be built on just 35 acres; a similar traditional reactor would need 500 acres.
Microreactors are even smaller and produce even less electricity, generally ranging from 1 megawatt to up to 20 megawatts. But what makes these smaller nuclear reactors enticing is their assembly and portability.
Unlike traditional reactors, SMRs are modular, meaning their parts can be built in a factory, transported to a site and assembled there. The same is true for microreactors.
Some designs will make microreactors transportable, even by semi-truck — though microreactors of that size would likely only be able to produce 1 megawatt of electricity, said Chris Lohse, Innovation and Technology Manager for the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN), a U.S. Department of Energy initiative.
Developers hope that microreactors’ size and portability can bring electricity to more remote, inaccessible regions.
Are SMRs and microreactors — and nuclear energy in general — safe?
Utah state Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, recently responded to a colleague who asked him if nuclear power is safe: “That’s something you’ll have to decide in your own mind.”
“There’s no energy technology that doesn’t have risks and doesn’t have benefits,” said Danielle Endres, a professor of communication and director of the University of Utah’s Environmental Humanities Program.
“We’ve got hundreds of nuclear power plants in the U.S. that are running every day. We’ve got even more if you look internationally. So,” she continued, “accidents are not something that happen with great frequency, but if it does happen, then there are major risks that come into play.”
Lohse said that small modular reactor designs have “passive safety features,” which, according to the Idaho National Laboratory, will shut down and and cool the reactor when they detect abnormal conditions.
Microreactors have similar systems “that prevent any potential for overheating or reactor meltdown,” the Department of Energy says.
“My big hope for how this conversation plays out in the state,” Endres said, “is that we, citizens and lawmakers, are really doing a good analysis of the risks and benefits, and doing that with research. To me, that’s the best way to make a decision about what energy technologies we choose to use.”
How soon could SMRs and microreactors be in Utah?
(University of Utah) A a view over the University of Utah's TRIGA nuclear reactor tank looking at the control rod.
Commercial SMRs and microreactors could be available near the end of this decade, Lohse said, but there are none commercially operating in the U.S. right now. Any reactors in the U.S. must obtain a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, to operate, he added.
In December, Utah joined Texas and a nuclear energy start-up in a lawsuit challenging the NRC’s licensing requirements. Their suit argues “the costly and time-consuming process to obtain a [construction and operating license] is one of the key barriers to deployment of SMRs and microreactors in…the United States.”
The University of Utah is home to a nuclear reactor, but it does not produce power. The U.’s reactor was installed in 1975 and has been used primarily for research like creating medical isotopes, said Ted Goodell, the nuclear reactor facility director.
Goodell said the reactor uses almost no water, and its waste is stored at the university in “shielded pits to protect people from radiation.” He added that reactor facility staff monitor the stored fuel or radiation and that the NRC regularly inspects the facility.
Where would nuclear waste from SMRs and microreactors go?
All nuclear reactors, including SMRs and microreactors, generate high-level radioactive waste — according to the NRC. This type of waste is especially hazardous, the agency says, because it produces “fatal radiation doses during short periods of direct exposure.”
Advocates for smaller reactors say they will produce less nuclear waste than traditional ones. But a 2022 study found that SMRs “will actually increase the volume of nuclear waste in need of management and disposal,” according to lead author Lindsay Krall, a former postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation.
The U.S. currently has no permanent disposal facility for that radioactive waste, the NRC says. That means all waste from nuclear reactors — including SMRs and microreactors that could be built in Utah — is stored at the site where it’s generated.
“Any county or city in Utah that would be hosting an SMR,” Endres, from the University of Utah, said, “can count on also being a place where nuclear waste is stored.”
The NRC reports that spent fuel from existing nuclear power plants in the U.S. is stored in concrete pools with steel liners. When the pools near full capacity, that waste is moved into “dry casks,” steel canisters reinforced with concrete.
Endres said while there are safe containment methods, accidents can still happen. If waste containment fails, she said, highly radioactive material could be released into soil, groundwater and air.
Radiation exposure can cause long-term impacts to human health, like cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The risk that you see with having a waste facility or storage of waste right next to where someone is living,” Endres said, is “if there’s an accident, if that material that you would never want to be around in person…somehow is not contained, then that’s a risk to human health.”
Utah is home to a nuclear waste facility, but it currently only handles low-level radioactive material, which is much less radioactive than spent fuel from a reactor.
How much water would commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors use?
That answer will depend on the technology and reactor design used, Lohse said.
Since SMRs and microreactors are still in development, exactly how much water they will require isn’t clear and would range based on each reactor’s coolant and power production.
Some SMRs in development in North America would use water like traditional nuclear reactors, the nonprofit Nuclear Innovation Alliance, or NIA, reports.
Traditional reactors can use between 270 and 670 gallons per megawatt hour of electricity produced, according to the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems. Smaller nuclear reactors don’t need as much water as traditional ones, Lohse said, because they are producing less energy.
There are other SMR and microreactor designs being developed that will use molten salt or liquid metals, like liquid sodium, instead of water to transfer fission-generated heat to a turbine. Some of these designs would use helium or air for cooling, requiring even less water, according to the NIA.
“When you get to some of these smaller technologies,” Lohse said, “a lot of them have the ability to look at air cooling instead of using direct water connections.”
How much would commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors cost?
Nuclear is one of the most expensive energy sources.
A January 2024 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration found the capital cost for coal plants ranges between $1,600 and $4,000 per kilowatt; for hydroelectric power plants, $7,000; for onshore wind, less than $1,500; for solar, between $1,500 and $2,600.
The cost of bringing one SMR to commercial scale, or its capital cost, ranges between $5,500 to $10,000 per kilowatt using 2022 dollars, Lohse said.
Smaller nuclear reactors, like any other power source, will also cost money to operate.
The cost to operate an advanced nuclear reactor ranks among the most expensive types of power plants per megawatt hour of energy, according to a 2022 report. It is cheaper than offshore wind and biomass, but costs more than coal, geothermal, onshore wind, solar and hydroelectric power.
Operating costs don’t always capture the full value of nuclear energy, which can provide power anytime unlike renewables, Lohse said. “I cannot demand wind to produce me energy. I can demand a gas plant, a coal plant, a nuclear plant to produce me energy when I want.”
The cost of building and operating smaller nuclear reactors will decrease as more are produced, a report from the U.S. Department of Energy says.
Are there any commercial-scale SMRs and microreactors producing energy outside the U.S.?
Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov, the world’s only floating nuclear power plant, produces energy from two SMRs, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It began commercial production in 2020.
China, too, has a nuclear plant powered by two SMRs that started commercially operating in late 2023. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that SMRs are also under construction or licensing in Argentina, Canada and South Korea.
