Opinion: Utahns must think carefully about becoming the nation's nuclear hub
Utah's Legislature has put hope in nuclear energy as a key component of our state's future energy mix. At the start of the 2025 legislative session, Senate President Stuart Adams proclaimed that he wants Utah to be the 'nation's nuclear hub.' Governor Spencer Cox, likewise, included nuclear energy in Operation Gigawatt, an initiative aimed at doubling the state's energy production over the next 10 years. With the passage of HB249, the state created the Nuclear Energy Consortium to advise nuclear energy development in Utah. Now we must consider whether nuclear energy is right for our state.
To ensure decisions about how we will power Utah's future are as democratic as possible, all Utahns should be part of the deliberation. We call on Utahns, including our Legislature, governor and the Nuclear Energy Consortium, to evaluate nuclear energy's cost, timeline and environmental impacts.
We have already seen how costly nuclear development can be here in Utah. In 2015, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) partnered with NuScale on a small modular reactor (SMR) project, planned to be at Idaho National Labs and provide power to several towns in Utah by 2030. The project was canceled in November 2023 after cost estimates increased from $3 billion to $9 billion.
This failed project reveals the risk of investing millions of taxpayer dollars in technology that's yet to be implemented on a large scale. The investment required to develop nuclear power plants is massive. The state has lauded microreactors and SMRs as the stuff of the future. They claim new technology will make nuclear energy safer, easier to produce and cheaper. However, the electricity produced by UAMPS/NuScale project would have been more expensive than that produced by the most recent traditional nuclear power plant to come online in the U.S.
That project was not an exception. A 2013 Union of Concerned Scientists report shows that SMRs will be more expensive than traditional nuclear plants.
Developing nuclear power is costly and time-intensive. A 2014 study by Dr. Benjamin Sovacool and colleagues demonstrated that a sample of 175 nuclear reactors took on average 64% longer than projected. Dr. Arjun Makhijani argues that nuclear power is too slow and too costly to meaningfully reduce emissions, especially when renewables like solar and wind are ready now and cheaper than ever.
The state's call to become a nuclear powerhouse is another iteration of the nuclear renaissance we saw in the early 2000s. However, calls for nuclear development in response to climate change then did not result in an increase in nuclear power. Nuclear consistently provides about 20% of electricity for the U.S. Skeptical public opinion, accidents at TMI and Chernobyl, cost, and long construction times have meant that only three new reactors have come online since the 1990s.
Now we're seeing a new version of a call for a nuclear renaissance. In Utah, Adams said we need nuclear energy to meet the energy demand of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI requires massive amounts of power and water; experts expect power demand to skyrocket with the computing power needed for AI. Because tech companies have committed to reducing greenhouse gases, they are looking to nuclear power to supply the increased demand because, proponents argue, it can supply stable electricity that intermittent solar and wind energy cannot. However, there are other ways to provide baseload or surgable electricity, including battery storage and geothermal.
Whether or not nuclear energy ends up powering AI, we should be asking ourselves if it is worth the cost and if Utah, already threatened by drought, should be seeking out such a water and energy-intensive industry. Our communities and our environment will continue to pay the price with our tax dollars, our water and our power.
There is no one energy source that is inherently good. Each requires resources and has an impact on its surrounding communities and environments. If Utah is going to consider nuclear power, we call for state leaders and Utahns to engage in a nuanced and research-based analysis of its benefits and risks. Our own analysis makes us skeptical that it's the right energy source for Utah. And we're not alone — a former nuclear engineer also recently made the case against nuclear power for Utah.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Nevada's regular 2025 legislative session ends. Voter ID is among the key bills to pass
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Legislature ended their 2025 regular session early Tuesday after a flurry of final day action. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is expected to take action by next week on the hundreds of bills that passed. The first-term governor vetoed a record 75 bills in 2023. Nevada lawmakers meet every other year in odd years. Ahead of the session, Lombardo had urged the Legislature to put politics aside and come together to find solutions for such issues as affordable housing and education. Some of his major bills failed, including a wide-ranging bill that would have created stiffer penalties for certain crimes, but he won in other areas including elections and education. Here is a look at some of the notable bills that passed and failed during this year's 120-day session in Carson City. ELECTIONS VOTER ID AND MORE BALLOT BOXES: Signaling a major compromise, lawmakers passed a bill on the final day of the session that revived Democrats' vetoed effort to add more mail ballot drop boxes around the state ahead of an election in exchange for new voter ID requirements that Lombardo supports. It marks a significant shift for Nevada Democrats, who have long opposed GOP-led efforts to require photo identification from voters at the polls and comes on the heels of voters in November passing a voter ID ballot measure. It would have to pass again in 2026 in order to amend the state constitution. PRIMARY ELECTIONS FOR NONPARTISAN VOTERS: A week before the session ended, Yeager introduced a bill as an emergency request that would allow nonpartisan voters to cast a ballot in Republican or Democratic primary elections, excluding presidential primaries. It passed. Voters registered as nonpartisan outnumber both major parties in the swing state. The bill is different from the effort voters rejected in November that would have implemented open primaries and ranked-choice voting for all voters. EDUCATION TEACHER RAISES: Lawmakers in both chambers overwhelmingly approved a bill that includes pay raises for teachers at charters schools. Lombardo had said he would not approve the state's education budget if it left out raises for charter school teachers, which Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, a Democrat, then added to the bill. SCHOOL POLICE USE OF FORCE: The proposal approved by lawmakers would require the Clark County School District's police department to make public its data on officer use of force, including the use of stun guns, batons and pepper spray. The school district is the fifth-largest in the nation and has its own police department. HOUSING 'ATTAINABLE' HOUSING: Lombardo's bill aimed at expanding affordable housing, one of his top priorities this session, would allocate $133 million in state funds for housing projects for what he calls the 'missing middle" who can't afford to buy a home but don't currently qualify for affordable housing. It passed. RENTER PROTECTIONS: A handful of bills aimed at expanding protections for renters passed on party lines. They include a proposal that would create a pilot program capping rent prices for seniors for a year, and another that would allow tenants to quickly file legal complaints against landlords for unsafe living conditions like broken air conditioning or broken locks. HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY CRIMINAL PENALTIES: The governor, who was a longtime police officer and the former elected sheriff in Las Vegas, had vowed ahead of the session to crack down on crime. But his crime bill failed after last-minute changes were added and lawmakers ran out of time Monday night. It would have created stiffer penalties for certain crimes, including 'smash-and-grab' retail thefts and violent crimes against hospitality workers, a newly designated protected class under the proposal. OTHER ISSUES FILM TAX CREDITS: The closely watched bill backed by Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment failed. It would have given massive tax credits aimed at bringing film production to southern Nevada, including a 31-acre film studio in an affluent neighborhood west of the Las Vegas Strip. A similar bill failed in 2023. DEFINING ANTISEMITISM: Lawmakers approved a bill that creates a definition of antisemitism for state-led investigations into discrimination in housing, employment and other accommodations. It passed, but sparked a debate because some thought the definition was too broad and could limit free speech criticizing Israel. STATE LOTTERY: The proposal, backed by the powerful Culinary Workers Union that represents 60,000 hotel and casino workers, would have ended Nevada's longstanding ban on lotteries. It failed after the Legislature's first major deadline in April.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Cox picks former Sean Reyes staffer to lead new public records office
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed a staffer to former Attorney General Sean Reyes as the director of the Government Records Office to replace the seven-member panel that previously ruled on disputes over public records. Lonny Pehrson was appointed as the first director of the newly created office, the Utah Department of Government Operations announced on Monday. He is tasked with adjudicating appeals to public records requests and overseeing daily operations of the office. 'We look forward to the Government Records Office streamlining the appeals process and helping Utahns get timely answers to their records requests,' Cox said. 'Lonny Pehrson's legal expertise and commitment to good governance make him the right person to lead this important effort.' The Government Records Office was created this year by state lawmakers to replace the State Records Committee, a seven-member volunteer panel that used to handle appeals to public records under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA. Although journalists often use public records in reporting, the vast majority of requests are made by everyday Utahns. The State Records Committee met for the last time in April and public records appeals stalled during the interim. The bill sponsor, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, argued the new office will be more nimble in responding to requests for public records and that the director would bring a level of legal expertise to the role. Pehrson was appointed to a four-year term. 'I am honored to have been nominated for this position and truly appreciate the trust and responsibility it entails,' he said. 'I look forward to establishing the Government Records Office, which will better facilitate access to government records in accordance with the law.' Pehrson graduated from the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law and worked for the U.S. District Courts of Utah and Texas. Most recently, he served as government records counsel for the Utah Attorney General's Office, where he sought to block KSL from obtaining copies of Reyes' work calendar from his time in office. Kenneth Williams, the state archivist and director of the Division of Archives and Records Service, said he is 'thrilled' to welcome Pehrson to the new role. 'I have worked with Lonny for several years and know that his expertise in records law and dedication to public service will be invaluable as we continue to ensure appropriate and reliable access to government records for the people of Utah,' he said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hawaii gets first state fire marshal in 46 years
An Army combat veteran with high-level fire safety job experience in Arizona is Hawaii's new state fire marshal. A state council has appointed Dori Booth to the position leading an office resurrected by state lawmakers in 2024 in response to the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfire disaster, which killed 102 people and destroyed most of Lahaina. Gov. Josh Green announced Booth's selection Monday and said it marks a historic return to a centralized approach to statewide fire protection in Hawaii. 'Dori Booth steps into this role at a moment of incredible urgency—and with a mission that's nothing short of transformative, ' Green said in a statement. 'We are rebuilding an entire fire safety infrastructure at the state level, and Dori is at the center of it.' Hawaii's Legislature abolished a prior Office of the State Fire Marshal in 1979, leaving counties to largely handle fire safety for the last 46 years. Hawaii also had been the only state without a state fire marshal. The Legislature passed a bill in 2024 that reestablished the office led by a fire marshal but appropriated only $172, 000 for the entire operation. In January an advisory team formed by Green in May 2024 to come up with plans to reduce and respond to future natural disasters in Hawaii recommended that a 'properly-funded ' state fire marshal office be established with a minimum $2 million annual budget. A separate January report by the Fire Safety Research Institute initiated by the state Department of the Attorney General said staffing up the fire marshal office was No. 2 on a list of 10 priorities to improve fire safety in Hawaii. Another report produced in November by the State Fire Council, which largely represents four county fire department chiefs, put the cost for a fully staffed state fire marshal office with 42 personnel at $4.4 million to $6.4 million. The council also proposed half-staffed and quarter-staffed office models, with the latter costing $1.7 million to $2.5 million. On April 30 the Legislature passed House Bill 1064 to appropriate $2.2 million in each of the next two fiscal years to pay for eight staff positions, equipment and other expenses for the office, including $206, 352 for the fire marshal, $189, 804 for a deputy and $400, 000 for five fire inspectors and investigators during the fiscal year that begins July 1. Green said Booth will need to navigate a 'complex division of responsibilities ' between the counties and the state in addition to setting up a new operational structure and immediately implementing top-priority reforms to protect communities. 'It may sound like bureaucracy—but the goal is simple : save lives, protect property and keep Hawaii safe, ' the governor said. Booth most recently was fire marshal for a district in Arizona that includes the town of Sedona, and prior to that was deputy fire marshal with the Phoenix Fire Department. Hawaii's new fire marshal has a master's degree in public safety leadership administration from Arizona State University. Booth also is an Army veteran who deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, specialized in civil-military operations and infrastructure stability, and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge. Booth said in a statement that it is an honor to take on the new position at such a critical time for Hawaii and that she is committed to working with community members, first responders and county, state and federal partners to build a fire protection system reflecting the strength and resilience of Hawaii's people. 'The lessons from the Maui wildfires are still fresh, and our responsibility is clear : We must do everything in our power to prevent future tragedies, ' Booth said. 'That means stronger coordination, smarter planning, and a relentless focus on community safety. 'And when wildfires or other disasters cannot be prevented, we must be resilient—to protect Hawaii's most precious resources : its people, history, culture and places of deep significance.' Booth was appointed to a five-year term as Hawaii fire marshal by the State Fire Council under the 2024 law. Earlier this year the Legislature amended the law to attach the fire marshal office to the state Department of Law Enforcement instead of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Another amendment made this year to the fire marshal law will establish a fire marshal selection commission starting Jan. 1, with powers that include evaluating, appointing and removing Hawaii fire marshals. The seven-member commission also is expected to receive public input and hold public meetings.
