Evanston-based nuclear manufacturer Black Mesa Advanced Fission is working with the Department of Defense to produce a line of portable reactors, which it predicts will replace the military’s current diesel power generators.
CEO Joshua Payne said his company was contracted in January to create “tactically mobile” reactors for the U.S. Army. These reactors are contained to the size of a shipping container and can produce far more power than the Army’s current diesel generators.
The military, he said in a phone call with Cowboy State Daily, will use his generators to power forward operating bases, communications technology and serve as emergency power generators.
Black Mesa’s project is among a growing list of companies announcing plans to bring nuclear developments to Wyoming. Radiant Nuclear plans to bring a similar microreactor project near Bar Nunn, which last week sparked fierce debate between local and state leaders.
High Energy IQ
Payne grew up in a military family and lived in several states across the U.S., including Idaho. He said he based his decision to relocate Black Mesa from Virginia to Evanston, Wyoming, due to his experience with the state’s “high energy IQ.”
“It has great business incentives and a population that has more manufacturing and real-world product experience,” Payne said of Wyoming. “Plus, we’re also big fans of doing things outdoors.”
The reactors, Payne said, will be manufactured in Evanston but won’t be operated until they reach an Army test site in Nevada.
No fuel will be stored at the Evanston site either, he said, meaning the development represents a minimal risk to the surrounding community.
“The ‘waste' is lightly used nuclear fuel that can be utilized in other reactors as-is and is still worth about $10,000 per pound,” Payne said.
Payne also touted the way his company is bringing high-paying jobs to Wyoming with a focus on employing local workers.
His site will eventually produce up to 100 reactors per year, bringing an expected economic impact of about $3 billion to the area, he said.
Black Mesa was awarded a $1 million government contract for a gravel crushing job in Pinedale. It also received $5 million from the Army for the reactor contract.
While the company has accepted grants, Payne also said it has received no venture capital money.
“We’re not using [Wyoming] like a sandbox, we’re not going to be running or operating these things here,” he said. “We’re not trying to bring in anything controversial, just high-tech manufacturing.”
Payne told Cowboy State Daily that because of the recent emergence of microreactors, there is not an established government approvals process for such projects.
He said in a text message that Black Mesa is cooperating with Army, National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories to develop that process.
“We expect to turn on the first unit in approximately four years, depending on federal funding for the program,” he texted. “We are conducting extensive non-nuclear prototyping and testing prior to demonstrating a nuclear fueled unit."
Community Concern
Black Mesa’s involvement in Wyoming has sparked concern with some that another nuclear development could potentially harm the community.
Former state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, took to social media to share a clip of Payne from a 2023 podcast appearance. Payne in that clip likened his startup to billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX and described it as a place primarily meant to “build prototypes.”
“When you build anything, you’re not going to make it perfect from design,” Payne said. “If there are things you don’t know, you don’t know until you go to build it.
Bouchard said such an attitude appears to represent a potentially reckless approach toward nuclear energy work. He also questioned Black Mesa’s commitment to Wyoming given its roots in Virginia.
“My question is: are people coming here from out of state to use our sandbox to develop something new and possibly not be think about the public safety of a low-population state like Wyoming?” Bouchard told Cowboy State Daily.
Bouchard also pointed to the SL-1 Nuclear Accident, which took place in Idaho in 1961. That incident saw a U.S. Army experimental nuclear reactor explode, killing three and leaving the surrounding area radioactive.
While that disaster went on to inform future safety developments in nuclear technology, Bouchard said he doesn’t want a similar mishap in his state.
“And the SL-1 accident relates precisely to the comments by the CEO of Black Mesa,” he said in a text. “Stuff happens, even after the best laid plan. The first responders were well equipped and trained for nuclear accidents at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.
"Would Barr Nunn have a Casper emergency response? How many first responders could have to be buried with the nuclear fallout?”
State Rep. Robert Wharff, R-Evanston, told Cowboy State Daily that while he hasn’t heard much from his constituents about Black Mesa specifically, he has been made aware of general criticism toward other nuclear projects, such as billionaire Bill Gates’s Natrium nuclear reactor project in Kemmerer.
“The negative comments I have heard about nuclear projects, in general, are fears that Wyoming could become the nuclear dumping center for the nation's nuclear waste, as a whole,” he wrote via text message. “I believe that all energy should be treated equally. Government subsidies and/or tax breaks are currently unequal and should be made uniformly.”
“As a conservative, I am more inclined to eliminate government subsidies and minimize the taxation of energy than increasing either,” he added.
Small-Scale Nuclear
Miniature reactor projects are becoming more common across the West as energy demands continue to increase.
Denver International Airport in August began considering the addition of a small modular nuclear reactor to its grounds as part of its goal to become the world’s greenest airport.
These smaller facilities would easier to construct than full sized nuclear plants, produce zero carbon emissions and could also be portable around the airport.
Attention around these discussions prompted the airport to delay its search for a firm to study the feasibility of assembling a reactor, allowing more time for the Denver city council and local neighborhoods to consider the option.
The Trump administration appears in favor of similar developments and has sped up the permitting process for small modular reactors.
The Wyoming Energy Authority in June of 2024 announced it had partnered with a Virginia-based company to begin the next phase of a project to design miniature nuclear reactors to power state mining operations. Those reactors were a commercial version of models used by the military.
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
