Cities may turn to new forms of nuclear power

by JENNIFFER WARDEL, THE Davis Clipper


BOUNTIFUL, UT —  Safer, more compact nuclear power may be Utah’s energy future.

According to Doug Hunter, general manager of Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), the group is currently looking at small modular nuclear reactors as a possible solution to the new EPA regulations that will severely restrict the state’s coal plants by 2024. Though no decisions have been made, UAMPS members cities including Bountiful Power and Rocky Mountain Power are looking into utilizing the smaller, safer reactors.

“The nice thing about these smaller reactors is that they have such a safety factor built in,” said Allen Johnson, director of Bountiful Power. “The bigger nuclear plants can be sort of scary.”

The modular reactors are smaller nuclear units currently being built in a plant in Idaho. Though they produce much less power than a larger reactor or even a coal plant, they can be used in conjunction to produce just over the power an average coal plant would put out. The advantage is that this power is carbon-free, making it safe from the EPA regulations.

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