NuScale small modular reactor project faces new opposition in Utah

摘要

NuScale Power LLC's plan for a new nuclear power plant in Idaho based on small modular reactor technology met new opposition this week from a taxpayer advocacy group in Utah, the home state of the project's main customer and sponsor. The Utah Taxpayers Association, which was founded in 1922 and works to lower state and local taxes, issued a statement Aug. 4 saying that the UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project, which calls for 12 60-MW reactors to be built at the Idaho National Laboratory west of Idaho Falls, will be costly compared to solar, wind and energy storage alternatives and presents unacceptable risks to Utah ratepayers. "The evidence the Utah Taxpayers Association has examined provides a bleak picture of the massive high-risk financial commitments these cities will need to make long into the future," said Rusty Cannon, vice president of the association, during an Aug. 4 conference call with reporters. "The proposal carries the likely potential for delays and cost overruns on unproven technology that continues to be less and less competitive than other clean energy alternatives."