Southwest Wyoming locals pepper feds on proposed Natrium nuclear plant

KEMMERER—Residents here have dozens of questions about the potential impacts and risks related to TerraPower’s proposed nuclear power plant slated for just outside of town.

Will the plant disrupt groundwater or domestic wells? What threats does it pose to surface waters in a watershed that drains to the Colorado River Basin? What safeguards will prevent a radioactive release? How long will spent-radioactive waste be stored on location?

Others who are eager for the potential economic boost that the $4 billion construction project might bring to the area worry that it could be stopped in its tracks if a new archeological or culturally significant site is discovered in the project area.

And some — beyond a pervasive distrust of Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire who founded and is using his wealth to back TerraPower — see existential threats from what would be Wyoming’s first nuclear power plant.

“I just wanted to point out that the world’s most dangerous supervolcano is four hours north and, barring any accident [happening], the consequences could be world changing,” Kemmerer resident Marshal Corwin told Nuclear Regulatory Commission staffers during a Tuesday evening public meeting regarding the project. As for the project’s billionaire backer, “I’m not comfortable doing any deals with the devil,” he added.

For now, the public has only NRC standards and procedures for reference, and TerraPower’s own construction permit application that asserts the project meets all of the safety requirements with negligible impacts to the environment and local residents. The commission will begin analyzing the company’s claims this fall. But first it wants to hear from the public, and particularly from those familiar with the region, to determine whether the project should move forward.

“It’s very important for us to solicit your impact, or your input, on what the environmental [characteristics] you believe are present in the community and how the project is going to affect you,” said Joe O’Hara of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Division.

O’Hara was part of a team of NRC officials that hosted the public meeting here to explain the agency’s environmental review of the project and how people can participate.

The agency is accepting public comments through Aug. 12. Comments can be submitted via this federal portal .

Natrium project and permitting

TerraPower proposes to build its pilot Natrium nuclear power plant in southwest Wyoming, co-locating the facility near the Naughton natural gas- and coal-fired power plant so it can tap into existing infrastructure. If successful, the company plans to deploy dozens of Natrium plants across the globe, including several more in Wyoming, according to the company.

Natrium is a scaled-down version of currently operating nuclear reactors, generating a consistent 345 megawatts of electricity — enough energy to power about 250,000 homes. The company promotes Natrium as an “advanced” reactor design because it will use liquid sodium for cooling, which requires less water and provides more energy efficiency, it says. The plant will also use a different type of radioactive fuel referred to as high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is more potent than traditional nuclear fuels.

The project, which is also backed by the Department of Energy to the tune of $2 billion, is being fast tracked via an expedited review process at the NRC. TerraPower commenced construction on a non-nuclear portion of the plant in June and hopes the plant will be operational by 2030, according to the company.

To get there, TerraPower must gain two separate approvals from the NRC: a construction permit (that review is underway) and an operating license (TerraPower plans to submit that application by 2027). In determining whether to grant the construction permit, the NRC will consider “the environmental impacts of construction, operation, and decommissioning of the Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1, and reasonable alternatives thereto,” according to the agency’s notice published in the Federal Register . “Possible alternatives to the proposed action include the no-action alternative and alternative sites.”

Shortly after the Aug. 12 public comment deadline, the NRC will publish a “scoping report” of the public comments received. The agency plans to publish its first round of analysis via a draft Environmental Impact Statement in July 2025, and a final EIS in May 2026.

Meantime, any member of the public can file a “petition to intervene” challenging the project, according to NRC staff. The deadline for petitions is Aug. 5.

Socioeconomic impacts

TerraPower selected Kemmerer to launch its Natrium nuclear reactor line, in part, for the existing infrastructure related to the Naughton power plant, according to the company. It has found a warm reception among state officials for its claim that doing so also provides an opportunity to backfill jobs that will be lost when Naughton closes in 2036, in addition to jobs lost if the nearby Kemmerer coal mine, which feeds Naughton, closes.

The company expects the Natrium construction workforce will peak at about 1,600 workers in 2028 and anticipates about 250 permanent jobs once operations are in full swing.

Parallel to those potential economic benefits are concerns about whether Kemmerer, Diamondville and other nearby communities are prepared to provide the services necessary to support such a large industrial project. Basic services , such as water, education, housing and health care, have been in decline for years to the point that existing needs among permanent residents are not fully met, according to some locals.

“We’re about to see rapid, explosive, exponential growth here,” one public commenter said at the Tuesday meeting. “Who is responsible for determining what is required and when [necessary public services] will be installed and what standards will be met and when … in order to ensure that this community remains a community?

“All of a sudden we need more water services,” he continued. “All of the sudden we need more infrastructure in order to deliver water, to collect the used water.”

Though the NRC does research and consider such socioeconomic impacts, according to agency officials, it’s up to state and local governments to address them. However, the NRC’s analysis, when published next year, will include a hard look at community preparedness and impacts — and those types of public concerns are particularly helpful in aiding the agency’s construction permit review, said Patricia Vokoun, senior environmental project manager in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Division.

“Your comment is helpful, because it’s telling us those are things for us to look at,” Vokoun said.

How to submit a comment

Comments can also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2024-0078, via email to TerraPowerEnvironmental@nrc.gov or via mail to Office of Administration, Mail Stop TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include the correct schematic of the Natrium power plant. — Ed

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