Kemmerer will be the site of the Natrium nuclear reactor demonstration project.
The town was named Tuesday in a statement issued by TerraPower, the company behind the Natrium plant design.
Along with the Sweetwater County location, other potential sites considered included facilities near Glenrock and Gillette.
The news comes as a bittersweet development for leaders in Sweetwater County. Although Wyoming will benefit from the project, Sweetwater County’s benefits will likely be somewhat muted in comparison to Lincoln County.
Commissioner Roy Lloyd said he was disappointed about the decision, but excited for Kemmerer and Lincoln County, which is an area that needs rejuvenation. He added the Natrium project still has economic possibility for Sweetwater County due to the “proximity for employment” and the potential of people brought in by the project coming to the county for shopping and other needs.
“There are positives for both communities,” Lloyd said.
“It’s a win-win. Because it’s in Lincoln County, it’ll be very beneficial to Sweetwater County,” Commissioner Randy Wendling said. “It’s always been a very collaborative working group of people, and so I’m excited.”
Wendling believes there is a good chance Sweetwater County could be selected as the site of a future Natrium plant, so he believes the situation is still “a plus.”
During the selection process, to get a leg up on the other competing sites, the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition created a site selection document to help sell the two companies on locating the facility in Sweetwater County, including information about the area’s demographics, recreational opportunities and other amenities in the county.
TerraPower CEO and President Chris Levesque said the decision was based upon multiple criteria, including the timeframe of the proposed coal plant closures compared to their seven-year timeline at the locations they investigated, as well as the availability of land and the local geology and seismology.
He said each of the communities TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power researched over the five months they spent site selecting were very welcoming to the project and the companies and he thinks benefits from the construction work will extend beyond Kemmerer.
“I think there’s a lot of room for many winners in Wyoming,” he said.
Kemnmerer has a population of 2,747, while Diamondville has another 651. Estimates by TerraPower suggest 2,000 workers are needed to bring the facility online when construction is slated to begin, with Levesque saying more than 300 people across three companies are working towards submitting for permits needed to begin construction — which is scheduled to start in 2024.
“This project has begun full-force,” he said.
The plant is expected to employ up to 250 people once it is brought online, including security staff, according to a press release issued by TerraPower.
The initial announcement of the plan to build a next-generation nuclear facility in the state came on the heels of another announcement RMP made regarding the future of its Wyoming coal-fired power plants. A 2019 Integrated Resource Plan by RMP suggested the early retirement of four power-generating units in Southwest Wyoming would lead to savings for its customers. The study targeted the Jim Bridger Power Plant and Kemmerer’s Naughton plant for early closures, with both plants speeding up the process for two units apiece. The first unit at the Jim Bridger Plant was originally scheduled for retirement sometime next year, but the 2021 IRP now calls for a conversion of the first and second units to natural gas at Jim Bridger by 2024 to help provide power during peak periods.
Gary Hoogeveen, CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, said the current IRP calls for three Natrium reactors being brought online at the tail end of its 20-year outlook, though he admits that could happen sooner if a future update to the plan calls for it. He also said the four locations were not ranked by desirability. Levesque said he expects planning for additional Natrium reactors to begin before the Kemmerer reactor is brought online.
The initial reactor is estimated to cost $4 billion, with half of that being paid for through a competitive grant TerraPower won from the U.S. Department of Energy. That price tag is higher than future Natrium facilities are expected to cost as many of the first costs with the design will be higher. Levesque said the company won’t turn a profit on the first reactors built, saying the company’s profits are expected to generate after the first series of reactors are built and many more are constructed within the U.S. and internationally.
Levesque said one of the reasons behind the push for a new generation of nuclear reactors comes from concerns Congress has about nuclear research and technology being provided by both Russia and China. He said the Natrium facility would be considered a fourth-generation nuclear plant, with a majority of the nuclear plants in the U.S. based on a second-generation designs from the 1950s and 1960s. He claims many of the advancements in nuclear technology were slow to take in the U.S. because of the regulatory hurdles involved. Levesque said much of the U.S. nuclear power technology in use today is based on designs originally pioneered nearly 70 years ago.
The Natrium facility is expected to generate between 345 and 500 megawatts of electricity and has the ability to utilize the molten sodium in its cooling system to produce electricity when the full output isn’t needed.
Rocky Mountain Power has invested heavily in renewable energy over the last decade as part of its $3.1 billion Energy Vision 2020 plan. The company claims the plan results in a 74% reduction of greenhouse gases from 2005 levels by 2030, with continued investment in the initiative expected to result in a 98% reduction by 2050. The Natrium facility is seen as a means of bridging the gap between what renewables can provide and the variable power needs that coal and natural gas provide RMP’s power grid. During a discussion with community leaders in Rock Springs in late June, Hoogeveen admitted that the company could not focus on renewables alone as they could not produce enough electricity and store it to account for varied power demands. The Naturium reactor, he said, can produce lower amounts of power during off-peak periods, then generate more when needed.
The intent to build in Wyoming was publicly announced June 2 and is seen by Gov. Mark Gordon as a means of keeping the state’s status as an energy leader. Other officials have voiced their support for the project as well. Sen. Cynthia Lummis issued a statement Tuesday praising the decision to build the reactor in Kemmerer while Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, has long championed the need for increased nuclear energy. Levesque credits Barrasso with being a major supporter in Washington, D.C.
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