NUCLEAR RESEARCH: St. George ponders investment

The Spectrum (David DeMille) - ST. GEORGE, UT – Officials in St. George are considering taking part in a research program that includes plans to build a demonstration power plant using a small nuclear reactor.

St. George is part of a conglomeration of Utah utilities called Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), and last week members of the city council gave verbal approval to joining the entity’s research program based on the potential of a proposed nuclear facility in Idaho that could help the city and other utilities move away from a reliance on coal plants.

Federally-funded researchers with Corvallis, Oregon-based NuScale Power are working toward construction of a new wave type of nuclear plant that would use a series of small, factory-built modular reactors to produce power without some of the safety concerns inherent in larger nuclear facilities.

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