Bleizeffer reported in July 2024 that “It’s a matter of national security,” Wandler said, noting that while nations are striving toward net-zero carbon emissions, global demand for electricity is skyrocketing. “Russia and China are [building] microreactors, and a world full of Russian and Chinese microreactors — having them be the dominant energy provider for the world — is not a good world for the U.S. or any of its allies.
“We really don’t have a choice,” he added.
After decades of failed promises to significantly expand its power-generating capacity, the nuclear energy industry is enjoying a moment of renewed enthusiasm — including from President Joe Biden and bipartisan support in Congress — for what it might finally deliver: low-carbon energy in the midst of a climate crisis and increasing demand for electricity.
But this time, the focus is to scale down the reactors. TerraPower’s pilot Natrium nuclear plant project in Kemmerer is an example. Rather than large plants that generate on the order of 2,000 megawatts (which are extremely difficult to permit) TerraPower envisions building smaller units that generate 300-500 megawatts.
There’s also talk of microreactors. They are described as self-contained units that can be factory-produced and easily transported in a semitruck or rail car
to wherever they’re needed. This rendering depicts a modern nuclear “microreactor.” (Idaho National Laboratory/Flickr Creative Commons).Though many Wyoming leaders have dreamed for decades of hosting large-scale nuclear power plants, today’s concept of microreactors that generate 1 to 20 megawatts of electricity fits nicely with the state’s manufacturing capabilities, according to state officials and local advocates like Wandler.
Wyoming may also provide some of the first microreactor clients. Several of Rocky Mountain Power’s industrial electric customers in the state are considering unplugging from the utility due to a series of rate hikes and relying instead on microreactors to supplement their electricity needs, according to the Wyoming Energy Authority. Tata Chemicals Soda Ash Partners in southwest Wyoming signed a cooperative agreement with BWXT Advanced Technologies last year to potentially be the first in the state to use one or more of its microreactors to “supplement existing power generation resources.”
But first, Wyoming wants to capture the manufacturing market.
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