Partnership to look into SMRs for Utah site

Monday, 28 April 2025

A Memorandum of Understanding signed on 23 April "confirms the intention of the Parties to share information and discuss the possibility of constructing nuclear generation at the IPP site".

According to EnergySolutions, key aspects of the project include:

   * Partnering with Intermountain Power Agency to leverage existing infrastructure at the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) site
   * Potential development of advanced small modular reactor nuclear baseload power
   * Potential synergy with the existing Intermountain Power Agency energy hub and advanced grid stabilisation technologies
   * Collaboration with local, state and regional stakeholders
   * Commitment to rural economic development and job creation in Utah.

"The project is aligned with Governor Spencer Cox's Operation Gigawatt initiative and seeks to address increasing demand for electrification of society and energy-intensive industries critical to maintaining our quality of life," said Emy Lesofski, director of the Utah Office of Energy Development. Operation Gigawatt, launched by Cox last October, is an initiative to double Utah’s power production over the next 10 years.

Intermountain Power Agency General Manager Cameron Cowan said the IPP site is uniquely positioned for consideration of new nuclear generation. "EnergySolutions is a Utah-based nuclear company with the background and capability to facilitate evaluating this unique opportunity. We look forward to working together on this initiative," he said.

EnergySolutions President and CEO Ken Robuck said the company is "excited" to pursue the opportunity to create a clean energy hub for the Western USA. "By adding new advanced nuclear technology to the existing renewable and hydrogen initiatives, we aim to provide a stable, decarbonised power supply that meets the needs of the state of Utah and the region," he said.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions is known as a supplier of nuclear decommissioning/decontamination, waste processing and disposal services, and operates two licensed disposal sites, in Clive, Utah, and Barnwell County, South Carolina. In June 2023, alongside an announcement of additional capabilities in support of the life extension of existing US nuclear power plants, the construction of new reactors, the company also said it was in the early phases of exploring the use of EnergySolutions-owned former nuclear sites as potential locations for future nuclear power plants. In December, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Terrestrial Energy to collaborate on the siting and deployment of Terrestrial's Integral Molten Salt Reactor at EnergySolutions-owned sites.

The Intermountain Power Agency is a political subdivision of the State of Utah, founded in 1977 to finance and operate the Intermountain Power Project. The project comprises a two-unit 1800 MWe coal-fired electric generation station, and two transmission systems, through which it has supplied the output of the plant to numerous municipalities, rural electric cooperatives, and one investor-owned utility in Utah and southern California. Its assets also include co-owned coal mines, trains and a railcar repair facility. It is currently constructing IPP Renewed, an initiative to install new natural gas-fuelled electricity generating units capable of utilising hydrogen for 840 MWe net output, with modernisation of its Southern Transmission System and as well as making use of existing infrastructure. That project is slated for completion this year.