Energy Secretary Tours 17 Labs And Urges Wyoming To Join “Nuclear Renaissance”

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Energy Secretary Chris Wright completed his tour of all 17 national laboratories Monday with a visit to the Idaho National Lab, where he declared that a long-anticipated nuclear revival is finally underway.

“This is ground zero for the nuclear renaissance that the Trump administration is passionate to make happen," Wright told a gathering of journalists, scientists and Idaho politicians. "It's been talked about for 20 years, but it's actually happening now, literally now."

Wright, who officials said is believed to be the first energy secretary to visit all 17 national labs, saved INL for last — fitting for a facility he called the birthplace of commercial nuclear power.

"I've been a nuclear nerd since I was about 14 or 15 years old," Wright said. "And at that time, Idaho National Lab had already built about 50 nuclear reactors."

Asked what message he would send to Gillette residents as they consider welcoming BWXT's proposed TRISO fuel manufacturing facility, Wright was unequivocal.

"A great company, a great fuel technology that's got a bright future," Wright said. "You know, we're at the early age of a nuclear renaissance where we’re talking about all these reactors being built. They're going to run on fuel. Wyoming's been a tremendous energy state, across the spectrum. I would add nuclear fuel to that if I was Wyoming. And I love the great town of Gillette."

The BWXT proposal is currently before Gov. Mark Gordon, who is weighing a $100 million incentive package to bring the facility to Campbell County. A decision from the governor’s office is expected sometime around Dec. 15, according to the Wyoming Energy Authority. 

Michael Goff, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy, told Cowboy State Daily the proposed Gillette facility could be critical to the industry's growth.

“The idea is to get that part of the industry moving." Goff said, noting that BWXT is currently the only company manufacturing TRISO fuel. “There are some other companies that are trying to stand up. It would be a nice capability to have out west here."

Kemmerer Connection

Wright reflected on what he characterized as the stagnation of the nuclear industry, reflecting back on the 1950s, when a reactor at INL generated the first electricity that powered homes in nearby Arco, Idaho. 

“In the next roughly 25 years, we permitted and had under construction over a hundred reactors, over a hundred,” recalled Wright, who said the industry then ground to a halt, partially because of bureaucratic hangups, according to the secretary. 

“Since that date, we have permitted, constructed and brought online two reactors,” he said. “So one of the very necessary steps is to reform the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission).”

On Dec. 1, the NRC gave a favorable safety evaluation for TerraPower’s Natrium nuclear power plant in Kemmerer a month ahead of schedule. TerraPower called the finding a “momentous occasion." 

Wright told those gathered at INL Monday that it was the new way of doing business.

“It’s to get that Nuclear Regulatory Commission focused very squarely on safety, safety and safety. It has been on bureaucracy, safety and bureaucracy,” he said. “It cares about safety 100 percent. There was no one irresponsible there. But it became so bureaucratic, so slow and so difficult that it just killed the economics of new nuclear reactor development.”

Wright also outlined the Trump administration's ambitious goal of getting new reactors up and running — what’s known as “critical” — by July 4, the 250th anniversary of American independence.

One of those reactors will be manufactured by Radiant, the microreactor company spurned recently by opponents in Natrona County and now setting up operations in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

Radiant plans to test what INL staff described as a “plug and play type reactor” in a containment DOME, which is a dome-shaped facility sealed with a 130,000-pound door and called the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments building. 

Idaho and Wyoming

During Monday’s tour of INL, Idaho Gov. Brad Little touted his state’s working relationship with Wyoming and Utah on nuclear issues, while U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, sported a MAGA-style hat reading “Make Nuclear Great Again.”

Little recalled how, "Gov. Gordon and Gov. Cox and I all signed a three-state agreement on how we're going to basically work together on energy dominance and energy self-sufficiency. So there's no daylight between the three of us."

Little said the nation’s advancement of nuclear energy runs directly through INL.

"That's where it's going to happen," Little said. He added a warning about global competition: "Somebody is going to do this in the world, and somebody is maybe going to be the Chinese if we don't do it right here. And we have got to win."

Outside the DOME facility, INL installed a lighted red sign reading “Reactor On.” The dignitaries gathered around it Monday and each added their signature to commemorate the sign, with Wright joking that he was signing a “declaration of nuclear energy independence.”

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.