With Wyoming leading a new nuclear power revival in the U.S. West, the Cowboy State has emerged as the lynchpin of a three-state compact with Utah and Idaho to remake the region’s energy landscape.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the states need to be “bold” in developing nuclear power at this week’s Built Here Nuclear Energy Summit in Draper, Utah, along with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Idaho Gov. Brad Little.
The three leaders signed an agreement to team up and together shape regional energy policy, including more investment in nuclear power.
"With the TerraPower project underway in Kemmerer, Wyoming is center stage in the region's nuclear future," said Michael Pearlman, spokesman for Gordon, highlighting the state's pivotal role in a historic tri-state energy alliance.
“The governor knows that the economic benefits the TerraPower project brings to Wyoming are also beneficial for the Intermountain Region as a whole, as there's a lot of interconnectedness,” Pearlman told Cowboy State Daily.
In March, the Utah Legislature formally recognized this interconnectedness when it passed a resolution callingfor “regional energy collaboration between Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.”
House Concurrent Resolution 9 was a general call to action for the three states, and the summit Tuesdayspecifically focused on nuclear power.
In fact, the day before the tri-state agreement was signed Monday, Utah leaders and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) signed their own memorandum of understanding to establish a formal, long-term collaboration on advanced energy research, workforce development and technology deployment, with a particular focus on nuclear innovation, according to a press release from the Utah governor’s office.
This partnership envisions Utah establishing an Advanced Nuclear and Energy Institute as a coordinating hub between INL, the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah Office of Energy Development and the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab.
Industry And Investors
Beyond the TerraPower project and ongoing uranium exploration, Wyoming’s role is to be determined in the region’s nuclear “ecosystem.” That’s how those who attended the Built Here summit described the emerging marketplace for nuclear power.
The summit included a group of about 20 representatives from energy and technology companies, along with investment groups like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
While in Utah for the summit, Holtec International reported signing a strategic cooperation agreement with the state of Utah and Hi Tech Solutions, “A leading nuclear services provider,” according to a Holtect statement.
Holtec and Hi Tech Solutions are advancing plants to develop “a fleet of SMR-300 reactors across the Mountain West.”
Richard Springman, president of global clean energy opportunities for Holtec, told Cowboy State Daily his company is looking at opportunities in Wyoming, but could not release more specific information at this time.
“I’m just kind of limited in what I can say. There’s certain things we’re doing I’m not ready to make public yet,” said Springman. “But look, everything starts with a site. You need community support at the site.”
Springman said a collection of Utah communities are under consideration for siting a range of services, from a training facility it hopes to open by 2028 to deploying the SMR-300s, the small modular pressurized water reactor designed by Holtec International to generate 300 megawatts of electricity.
The first deployment site for the SMR-300 is the Holtec Palisades in Covert, Michigan. After that, Springman told Cowboy State Daily that Utah and Wyoming are potential sites to locate nuclear power plants featuring small modular reactors.
Some Questions
In communities like Eagle Mountain, Utah, nuclear power projects designed to provide electricity to a single industry — like data centers — are getting pitched to residents.
The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah) engages with these communities and helps them evaluate their options, Carmen Valdez, a senior policy associate, told Cowboy State Daily.
Part of HEAL Utah’s mission is to remind the state of its own “history with toxic and radioactive waste … the incineration of chemical weapons, and ongoing radioactive dumping. These activities have caused significant and lasting health issues for Utah residents.”
In response to the Built Here summit, Valdez singled out a project discussed for Eagle Mountain, which she said involved the community getting “asked to put aside land to build small modular nuclear reactors for private AI companies.”
Valdez notes the local communities will not receive any of the energy generated, but the communities will need to provide expensive infrastructure.
“Local community members will have to pay the taxpayer dollars to build up the roads that are strong enough to bring in the nuclear fuel,” said Valdez. “Eagle Mountain has noted their roads are not strong enough. And additionally, because there is no spent fuel repository, that waste will remain on site.
“We really need to ask, ‘Who’s benefiting? Who’s profiting? Who’s paying? Who’s left to clean it up?’”
The Test Lab
Springman sketched out the broad business spectrum of nuclear power.
“We are not just delivering nuclear reactors. We have put together a plan to deliver the entire nuclear ecosystem to Utah and the surrounding region,” said Springman, recognizing one other added benefit of having Wyoming, Idaho and Utah bound by mutual enthusiasm for the nuclear industry.
All three states already work closely with the Idaho National Laboratory, the leading research facility for small modular reactors.
Utah is building up political support and investment capital for more nuclear power, said Laura Nelson, INL’s regional engagement lead who attended the summit.
“I think what we really see in Utah is a lot of building frameworks,” said Nelson, offering that this work is “creating space for opportunity in Wyoming” to build upon what’s happening with TerraPower and ongoing uranium extraction.
As for Idaho’s piece of the tri-state alliance, “In Idaho, you have the lab.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
