The country’s first small nuclear modular reactor (SMR) is gaining traction, and it has the support of nearly 30 municipalities that own their own power in Utah as they brace for a world without coal production. The state currently has no nuclear energy offerings.
The Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), a consortium of municipally owned power systems in Utah and several other western states, has partnered with NuScale Power to study and create the technology. The proposed 12-module plant would be located at Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, where it could power Utah’s cities from hundreds of miles away.