Utah’s Office of Energy Development and nuclear startup Valar Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding on May 16.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently announced that the state has partnered with a California startup to bring a nuclear test reactor to the state.
What he didn’t mention is that the state and the company, Valar Atomics, are looking into making the nuclear fuel in Utah, too.
According to a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request, Utah’s Office of Energy Development and Valar Atomics “may collaborate to evaluate Valar activating a nuclear test reactor… and TRISO fuel fabrication” at the San Rafael Energy Research Center in Emery County.
Tracy Rees, a public information officer for the Utah Office of Energy Development, added that “this is all the documentation we have at this time.”
“Nuclear reactors need fuel to operate, and the U.S. has been safely operating reactors for decades,” she said.
“The [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] has a robust regulatory framework to ensure public and environmental safety,” Rees continued. “One of the reasons it takes so long to deploy nuclear power is the depth and breadth of our country’s regulatory framework. Any nuclear operations in the state will be subject to NRC regulations.”
The memo is dated May 16, though the governor and Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor did not announce their partnership until May 23. Also on May 23, President Donald Trump issued executive orders directing the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to streamline nuclear reactor testing and fast-track the construction of nuclear power plants.
The fuel that could be made in Utah is called TRISO, which stands for tri-structural isotropic, and was first developed in the 1960s. The Department of Energy calls it “the most robust fuel on Earth” for its inherent safety features. The fuel consists of poppy-seed shaped spheres containing uranium, oxygen and carbon wrapped in layers of carbon and silicon carbide — different from the fuel rods used in traditional nuclear reactors.
Valar Atomics says it plans to use TRISO fuel in its proposed test reactor in Utah.
Rees said the state and Valar “will be conducting research to verify the safety of nuclear technologies. Like other research efforts, there will be testing and retesting to ensure safety and that technologies are performing as expected.”
Other nuclear companies, like Maryland-based X-Energy and California-based Kairos Power, also plan to power their reactors with TRISO fuel. But only BWX Technologies, headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., has a license from the NRC to make the fuel.
Several hazards can arise from manufacturing nuclear fuel, according to the NRC, but “the plant workers have a greater chance of being impacted than the public. These facilities generally pose a low risk to the public.”
The World Nuclear Association, which advocates for the nuclear power sector globally, writes that the mishandling of highly radioactive uranium hexafluoride and the incorrect arrangement of materials that make up nuclear fuel can lead to critical accidents.
Source: Utah News