When Sex Offenders Leave Prison

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BECOMING SCROOGE AT HALE THEATRE UTES ESCAPE TO WIN 8TH 1 MAN’S 48-YEAR STRAIGHT AGAINST BYU JOURNEY TO STAR COUGARS JUMP OUT TO 20-POINT AS THE MISER IN ‘A LEAD BUT CAN’T HOLD OFF UTAH’S CHRISTMAS CAROL’ 2ND-HALF SURGE ARTS C1 SPORTS D1

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2018 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH DESERETNEWS.COM When sex Unlocking science offenders in Idaho leave prison MOST AREN’TINCARCERATED FOR LIFE;WHAT UTAHIS DOING TO KEEPYOU SAFE BY PAT REAVY · DESERET NEWS UTAH STATE PRISON — The sex offender population at the Utah State Prison continues to grow at a staggering pace. In 1996, there were 248 sex offenders incarcerated by the Utah Department of Corrections. To - day, there are 10 times that num- ber, in the neighborhood of 2,500 at both the Point of the Mountain and the prison in Gunnison, mak- ing it by far the fastest-growing population at the prison. An additional 2,200 sex offenders are under the watch of Adult Probation and Parole. A Pew study in 2014 found that 31 percent of all inmates in Utah were serving time for a sex offense — far more than in 2004. KORT DUCE, IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY According to a Utah Sentencing Rows of concentrated solar arrays dot the landscape at Tooele Army Depot in the military’s quest to become more Commission report, the percent- self-sustaining from the traditional power grid. The Idaho National Laboratory works with the military in this endeavor. age of inmates in prison for sex offenses grew to nearly 34 percent in 2016 to over 35 percent in WHY UTAHNS SHOULD CARE ABOUT MYSTERIES Idaho National Laboratory WILLNUCLEAR POWERPOWER 2017. To Salmon To Dubois While the general public sees UNLOCKED AT IDAHO NUCLEAR RESEARCH FACILITY 28 UTAHCITIESIN THEFUTURE? the seemingly daily headlines of people being arrested or charged BY AMY JOI O'DONOGHUE To BY AMY JOI O’DONOGHUE with child pornography, rape or DESERET NEWS 1 DESERET NEWS sexually abusing minors, what · 22 Rexburg · 33 many don’t realize is that the 33 IDAHO FALLS — DETAIL SALT LAKE CITY — An Oregon- majority of those people who are based company is in a global race to convicted of a sex offense will be t occupies a sprawling 890 square be the first to commercially deploy released from prison one day. To 2 miles in eastern Idaho, giving rise to Arco a small modular nuclear power reac- Actually, 95 percent of all people 6 3 tor, and if the company is successful, who are sent to prison will even- the world’s first production of electrici- 26 4 Utah residents served by municipal tually be released, according to 5 20 7 To power systems would be among its Victor Kersey, the director of insti- ty from nuclear energy. 8 Idaho Falls first energy consumers. tutional programming at the Utah I NuScale’s Carbon Free Power Proj- Department of Corrections. To Blackfoot The idea in 1949 by the Laboratory is the nation's 1. Test Area North ect is scheduled to go online in 2026 “It’s actually a very small military was to establish top nuclear research facility 2. Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory a population that will never see the a premier nuclear energy for the U.S. Department of 3. Advanced Test Reactor Complex little over 200 miles north of Salt outside,” he said. research facility, build 10 Energy, employing thou- Lake City. Prison officials remind the 4. Idaho Nuclear Technology reactors and run them for sands of people immersed and Engineering Center The 12-module reactor with the ca- public that they are part of the 15 years to uncover all the in research that touches all pacity to generate 720 megawatts of Department of Corrections. The knowledge of splitting urani- corners of our lives. 5. Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex power will occupy a 34-acre site at goal is to help individuals correct um atoms. The mysteries of science 6. Materials and Fuels Complex the sprawling 890-square-mile U.S. their wrong behavior so they can Then, pack up and walk continue to reveal themselves 7. Central Facilities Area Department of Energy facility. re-enter society as a productive away. in a vast research complex 8. Radioactive Waste Management Complex Members of the Utah Associated member. Prison is not just a time- More than 50 nuclear reac- out box. tors later, the Idaho National ENERGY A8 SOURCE: Idaho National Laboratory DESERET NEWS GRAPHIC PLANT A9 The question then becomes:

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ARTS...... C1/9 COMMENT...... G1/6 TELEVISION...... C8 MOSTLY SUNNY TODAY INDEX CLASSIFIED...... W2, 3 DEATHS...... B8,9,11 WEATHER...... B12 VOL. 169 / NO. 165 CROSSWORD...... C2 LEGAL NOTICES...... D5 WORLD/NATION ...... A2/15 HIGH: 39 LOW: 23

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AVAILABLE AT US.TISSOTSHOP.COM ANDSELECTWATCH ANDJEWELRY STORES NATIONWIDE A8 DESERET NEWS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2018 Unlocking science in Idaho

AMY JOI O’DONOGHUE, DESERET NEWS A remote highway skirts the boundary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, west of Idaho Falls and 215 miles north of Salt Lake City.

the flight line and the drone ENERGY runway. FROM A1 The base lost power and that is the birthplace of the suffered billions in damages. U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine For years, the Idaho National program and home to the Laboratory has been working world’s foremost nuclear mate- with military installations in rials test reactor. Utah and across the globe to If you use a cellphone, assist them in their mission to operate a computer or rely on become more resilient. an energy grid (hint, we all Tooele Army Depot makes do), the U.S. Department of about half the energy it Energy-sponsored research consumes from renewable unfolding just 215 miles north resources like wind and solar. of Salt Lake City is quietly It also worked with a contrac- designed to make your life tor on a $1.7 million microgrid better. project after seeking technical The Idaho National Lab- assistance from the Idaho oratory is intertwined with laboratory. multiple Utah projects, from “The Army is really focusing helping keep cellphones on resiliency and site genera- functional for first responders tion resources,” said the lab- in a catastrophic emergency oratory’s Kurt Myers, project to testing the functionality of manager and staff engineer in batteries in electric vehicles. the power and energy systems It is North America’s only department. producer of radioactive, med- The system includes new ical grade cobalt-60 used in generation 1-megawatt battery Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a storage that will allow the type of radiation treatment for AMY JOI O’DONOGHUE, DESERET NEWS facility to shape its energy brain tumors used at facilities Don Miley gestures to a swath of land that may someday be home to the nation’s first modular nuclear reactors. demands. like the Intermountain Medi- Myers said the Army’s goal cal Center in Murray. varying conditions affect the in the driveway. is to sustain itself off the main “I am a little biased, but I length of a charge. “As we get faster and faster grid for two weeks. think we do some pretty cool The laboratory’s Shawn chargers, we are going to have The laboratory lends it tech- science here,” said Don Miley, Salisbury is analyzing data to manage it a different way,” nical assistance and research a communications specialist gathered from Utah charging Campbell said. in the arena of microgrids to at INL for the Advanced Test stations, some of which are Hear me now? military installations and other Reactor. along the I-15 electric vehicle potential users such as govern- In a recent tour, Miley corridor. The Idaho laboratory is ment and universities. stepped out of his vehicle into Salisbury, a vehicle testing working with the University A report by Grand View the desert at the junction of engineer, said the analysis of Utah on the critical issue Research predicts the global U.S. 26 and U.S. 20. includes 103 Utah chargers, of cellphone service for first market for microgrids will In a 50-acre section south- 23 of which are the DC fast responders in a cataclysmic reach $17.51 billion by 2025. west of this remote intersec- chargers. event like an earthquake strik- These portable or stationary tion, the laboratory’s land The 103 chargers provid- ing the Wasatch Front. microgrids can either work may someday be home to the ed drivers with over 81.7 Hurricane Maria, for with the utility grid or serve as nation’s first small modular megawatt-hours of energy example, took out 90 per- islands in emergencies, Myers nuclear reactor serving 46 cit- through 9,703 charges in cent of Puerto Rico’s cellular said. ies and districts in six states, April through June of this networks, and it was 10 days In a civilian application, the including Utah. year, Salisbury said. before first responders were microgrids can continue to The project is still in the “The goal is to increase the able to make contact with the power localized, critical ser- licensing phase of the U.S. Nu- adoption of plug-in vehicles island’s 68 municipalities. vices such as dispatch centers clear Regulatory Commission, throughout Utah, Wyoming Firefighters and others relied or hospitals should the main the first of its kind under such and Idaho,” he said. “The way on low-tech options like ham grid go down. regulatory scrutiny. Propo- they are doing that is through radio or AM radio. Myers has traveled to the nents say the next generation the deployment of charging Closer to home, the Federal Middle East, working with technology could be game infrastructure to build up the Communications Commission U.S. military leaders to find changing in the energy sector, charging network throughout said Hurricane Harvey in ways to deploy microgrids in with carbon free power nucle- the region. There is also an 2017 disrupted service to 16 foreign operations. ar generation significantly less education and outreach com- emergency dispatch centers in The U.S. military is the risky than traditional nuclear ponent.” Texas and Louisiana. world’s largest single consum- power plants, and incredibly Rocky Mountain Power’s The U.’s Behrouz Farhang er of petroleum, with Myers smaller. James Campbell said the Uni- is working with scientists at pointing out much of that is While that continues to versity of Utah has students the Idaho National Laboratory due to diesel in backup genera- unfold, here is a glimpse of working at the Idaho lab in to research how to spread tors. Navigant Research points what is currently playing out this continuing research to the wireless communication out that shifting from a reli- in Utah through partnerships assess how more charging signal over wider bandwidth ance on backup diesel genera- with the Idaho National Lab- stations could ultimately affect to open up more avenues for tors to large-scale microgrids oratory: the grid and how that might people to communicate over KORT DUCE, IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY could save the agency between Vehicle research be managed in the future. the air. Idaho National Laboratory’s Kurt Myers checks a wind $8 billion and $20 billion over Utah Clean Energy notes In short, researchers believe system at Tooele Army Depot as part of work with military. the next 20 years. The Idaho National Labo- that there are 4,400 electric the radio spectrum is un- Dugway Proving Ground is ratory is a partner in Rocky vehicles or plug-in hybrids derutilized and has room to stretches of downtown Salt mean Utah residents — in- in the design phase for a mi- Mountain Power’s WestSmart in Utah, which make up just grow, with hopes of develop- Lake City to the campus itself. deed the country — have crogrid, and last year, the Utah Electric Vehicle corridor under one-half of 1 percent of ing new “cognitive” radios Ultimately, the idea is for easier, cheaper access to the National Guard sent a team to project, which aims to make the entire fleet of vehicles in to make the best use of the companies to test the latest earth’s renewable thermal the Idaho National Laboratory available charging stations on the state. The state, however, communication systems. revolutionary technology energy. to look at microgrid systems. major transportation corridors was No. 1 in the growth rate “One of the key pieces for us in the increasingly complex Researchers from around Those microgrids can reduce in the West. for electric vehicle adoption, is redundancy,” said Unified arena of wireless communica- the world, including the Idaho fuel consumption and diversify This summer, officials the advocacy group said, in a Fire Authority Assistant Chief tions. National Laboratory, join a facility’s energy sources. celebrated the completion of trend it expects to continue. Mike Watson. The Salt Lake network, the University of Utah in the Utah National Guard Capt. the I-15 segment from the As electric vehicle prices “When a certain system along with a similar test bed $130 million project to test Keith Sestak said the guard southern tip of Utah to its come down and the charging goes down, we need a Plan B that will be installed in New new technology in Utah’s high wants to be able to operate “off northern boundary. Plans infrastructure expands, and a Plan C. Plan B is cell- Yo rk City, will offer the only plains desert. grid” as much as possible in include adding stations to I-80 electric vehicles are expected phones and Plan C is satellite at-scale testing environments The Idaho National Labora- the event of an emergency. and I-70, with the immediate to make up more than half of phones.” that provide both realistic size tory assisted the university in Once Camp Williams gets next step to put charging the vehicles in the country by The Plan B, ideally, would and conditions, for research- a preliminary site analysis in a new turbine, he said the stations on the route to the 2040. Campbell said the re- make it possible for first re- ers to thoroughly vet new the project that is now in its Guard’s energy status will popular recreation destination search needs to be done now sponders to not have to com- innovations. second phase of development. be at net zero, meaning its of Moab. to understand grid impacts in pete for traffic on cellphones Geothermal innovation Utah already has 73 mega- consumption is equal to its Rocky Mountain Power the future. should be there be a massive watts of installed geothermal renewable energy generation. received a $4 million grant “We’re modeling at a com- incident. Utah’s Beaver County is capacity with a trio of produc- “The goal for Camp Williams from the U.S. Department of munity level in neighborhoods Watson said AT&T is work- the first and only place in the ing plants, with the capability is to come as close as possi- Energy. The Idaho laboratory what happens if everybody ing on developing the nation’s world where an underground of generating 1,300 megawatts ble to sustaining ourselves is an Energy Department gets a Tesla and they are first public safety broadband laboratory to test new ways to of energy. through the use of wind pow- facility that includes a sophis- charging at night,” he said. network. access geothermal energy is Military and disasters er, and we also have a pretty ticated electric vehicle battery Current research, Campbell The laboratory and univer- under construction. big solar array,” he said. laboratory, where employees said, shows that Rocky Moun- sity are also part of a $100 FORGE, or the Frontier When Hurricane Michael “We are taking the best prac- carry out research. Research- tain Power’s grid can handle million effort that is one of the Observatory for Research in ripped through Florida this tices from INL to integrate ers bake EV batteries, freeze a charging load without first in the United States and Geothermal Engineering, is month, it devastated Tyndall into our system.” them or subject them to other upgrades if 50 percent of all largest in the world to build a U.S. Department of Energy Air Force Base, inflicting cata- EMAIL: [email protected] elements to determine how homes had an electric vehicle a living “wireless” lab along project that may someday strophic damage to structures, TWITTER: amyjoi16 Unlocking science in Idaho SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2018 DESERET NEWS A9 11 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE IDAHO NATIONAL Idaho laboratory’s issue of contamination LABORATORY

BY AMY JOI O’DONOGHUE using both high-pressure ion chambers The agreement also calls for the manager for the Snake River Alliance, The world’s · DESERET NEWS with real-time testing and passive U.S. Department of Energy to treat all a watchdog organization founded in chambers as well. high-level waste at the laboratory in 1979. first usable IDAHO FALLS — A legacy of con- More than 60 samples of groundwa- preparation for disposal elsewhere by “The contamination at the Snake 1.electricity from tamination from decades of operation ter, surface water and wastewater were 2035. River Plain Aquifer has been acci- atomic energy happened led to a Superfund designation at the tested in 2017, both within the labora- Idaho has an intense working dental, intentional and sometimes at the Idaho National Idaho National Laboratory by the U.S. tory boundaries and downstream. relationship with the laboratory in the inadvertent,” she said. Laboratory in 1951. Tours of Environmental Protection Agency in As the result of a lawsuit Idaho filed oversight of contamination, waste and The alliance runs the Don’t Waste the Experimental Breeder 1989. against the U.S. Department of Energy emergency preparedness and response. Idaho campaign and is fighting the Reactor 1 are from Memorial Now, even the milk of cows and and the Navy, a 1995 settlement The state conducted at least four possible importation of 33,600 barrels Day to Labor Day. It is a goats nearby gets tested regularly for agreement establishes requirements emergency drills last year and has of nuclear waste from Hanford, Wash- national historic landmark. the presence of radioiodine, which can and deadlines for the volumes of ra- an agency representative who is a ington, that could begin arriving at the increase the risk of thyroid cancer in dioactive waste at INL. There are 306 liaison for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Idaho National Laboratory next year. people. metric tons of spent fuel alone. Commission. It has also came out against the Nuclear fission in Even though the animals are off-site Specifically, the agreement calls for All of this work, Creed said, is part Carbon Free project by the Utah Asso- 1955 demonstrated of the 890-square-mile laboratory, the disposal of 84,799 cubic meters of of the ongoing effort to address the ciated Municipal Power Systems that 2.it could power an chemical nature of iodine makes it mo- transuranic waste — waste con- contamination of the Snake River would put a small modular nuclear airplane. But the laboratory bile under certain conditions, so it can taminated with artificial radioactive Plain Aquifer and to prevent future reactor at the Idaho National Labora- abandoned the experiment be carried on the wind and deposited elements — in the deep geologic problems. tory to power some Utah cities in the at the direction of President on livestock forage. repository in the Chihuahuan Desert “We want to protect the aquifer and future. John F. Kennedy in 1961. The Idaho Department of Environ- in New Mexico. prevent waste from migrating to it,” The alliance keeps close tabs on mental Quality collected 45 samples Natalie Creed, the state’s hazardous she said. incidents at the Idaho National Lab- The Advanced of milk from distribution centers and waste unit manager, said the dead- The aquifer, added Beatrice Brails- oratory, including the April rupture Test Reactor can individual dairies in 2017, and did a line of the waste’s removal by the ford, is the sole source of drinking of a barrel of radioactive sludge. The split sample of testing with the U.S. end of 2018 won’t be met because of water for 300,000 Idaho residents and rupture resulted in three firefighters 3.in just weeks Department of Energy to verify the problems at the New Mexico Waste contains twice as much water as Lake receiving medical treatment for radio- or months cause years to efficacy of the results. Isolation Pilot Plant. Erie. active contamination. decades of neutron damage All came back no detect, according “Some of the requirements they are “Cleanup has been going on quite Brailsford said the cleanup of to help determine the safety to the agency’s annual report. on track to meet and are doing well, vigorously for more than a decade. contamination associated with the of materials used in nuclear The agency has 10 air monitoring and some they are behind on, which The biggest threats to the aquifer is laboratory will take decades and cost power plants. stations, took 126 atmospheric sam- is a challenge. The state of Idaho has the plutonium waste buried in unlined billions. ples last year and does soil testing and been very clear that those things are a pits,” she said. EMAIL: [email protected] Research in monitoring for radiation penetration priority for us,” she said. Brailsford is the nuclear program TWITTER: amyjoi16 biomass resulted 4.in corn stover — which are the stalks, leaves and cobs that PLANT NuScale plant NuScale Reactor Building remain in the field after FROM A1 Module being loaded harvest — powering up the Municipal Power Systems, into the building 585-megawatt Boardman which serves cities and spe- Coal Plant in a test burn in cial districts in six Western NuScale March. states, are inking power sales Reactor Building contracts to move the project Over its life, the forward. So far, 30 members laboratory has have signed on, and three said no thanks. 5.been home to 52 “The Utah Associated reactors, three of which Municipal Power Systems produced electricity. wanted to have a carbon-free portfolio. We looked at big The site Five modules in their bays nuclear, but that was not SOURCE: NuScale assembled something we wanted to do,” SOURCE: NuScale 6.and tested the said Doug Hunter, the group’s “The plant was intentionally NuScale nuclear power source on the Mars general manager. designed to be as simple and HEAL Utah plans to hire Department of Energy. Curiosity rover and conducts NuScale Power completed effective as it possibly could reactor module a company that will model “This is the only cycle of design work on other the design certification phase be,” said George W. Griffith, power portfolio options for power production that I know before the U.S. Nuclear Regu- the senior reactor physicist potential customers of the of where we keep track of space exploration systems latory Commission and addi- with Idaho National Labo- NuScale nuclear power, every single molecule in the involving nuclear energy. tional licensing requirements ratory. “That determined Containment looking specifically at system waste stream,” Hunter said. will be finished in 2020. everything else going on vessel reliability and rates “It is highly regulated.” The Computer This fall, the company down the line.” Reactor “That is their focus, reliabil- Williams counters: “They Assisted Virtual picked BWXT Technologies The World Nuclear Associ- pressure ity and rates. Our motivation make it sound like it is a Environment, or vessel 7. to begin engineering work ation notes that the passive is the waste,” he said. very minimal footprint at the CAVE, allows researchers for the reactor, a significant safety features of these Williams said that as an Idaho site, but it is the most to don goggles and enter milestone in the project’s reactors and their smaller Hot leg environmental advocacy poisonous stuff there is.” a 3D computer-assisted development. geographic footprints and riser organization, HEAL Utah is While the permanent The small modular reactor buffer zone considerations opposed to the generation of solution to the storage issue environment to immerse is not like the 99 operating could lead to locating them at any more high-level nuclear still awaits, Hunter said the themselves in their own reactors at 61 nuclear power retired coal plant sites. Nuclear waste. nuclear industry and regula- data — from the Earth’s plants across the United Griffith did the site charac- core “When we talk to commu- tors have a long track record geothermal layers to the States. terization work at INL for the nities, we tell them we don’t of safely handling nuclear interior of a nuclear reactor. NuScale’s chief technology future location of the nuclear SOURCE: NuScale Power like the idea of this waste waste. officer Jose Reyes writes that reactor, examining 60 dif- DESERET NEWS GRAPHIC being generated when there is “Spent fuel has been safely The laboratory this is how they differ: ferent characteristics before distributed generation and already nuclear waste sitting stored for many decades at has its own team • Upon loss of all power, the narrowing the choice to one. believes nuclear power could around the country and is hundreds of locations,“ he of archaeologists NuScale nuclear reactors will The NRC, he added, will provide base load generation. there is no national solution said. ”The industry has the 8. who work on a variety shut down without operator do its own evaluation of “From a personal point of to its storage.” technology and experience or computer actions. NuScale’s project in each view — climate change, if it Yucca Mountain in Nevada to safely handle it. In the of projects, including • It will remain cooled for licensing phase. is anthropomorphic — it will was the planned depository 65 years of nuclear power uncovering the remains of an unlimited period of time. “They don’t care about have all the utilities regulated for the storage of high-level production in the United a pioneer who died along • Cooling of spent fuel can economics or how easy it is to down the road, whether we nuclear waste, but President States and globally, there has the Oregon Trail on what is be achieved for five months build, they just care about the like it or not,” Hunter said. Obama scuttled the project by never been a serious accident now the laboratory’s land without adding water. safety.” “This is very complementary yanking the funding after two involving spent fuel.” and recovering the personal • Multiple modular reactors But the project has some to renewables.” decades of research. The municipal energy group effects of men who perished reduce the risk of a system- big bucks behind it, or as its The project is not without The decision stranded is pursuing the acquisition of in a World War II bomber wide emergency shutdown. critics say, taxpayer-funded its chorus of critics, including 81,000 metric tons of nuclear water for the project and at crash during a training run. • Components can be subsidies being dumped into organizations like HEAL waste stored at 61 current this stage, existing transmis- assembled off site in a an “unproven” technology. Utah, radioactive waste and former nuclear reactor sion infrastructure is suffi- controlled factory setting and In the global race to be the watchdog groups and people sites across the country and cient to convey the energy, Since 1984, the installed module by module. first nation to deploy small who hear “nuclear” and think dealt the nuclear power indus- Hunter said. Idaho National Another positive aspect is module nuclear reactors, the of Three Mile Island or, more try a significant setback. During this $6 million study 9.Laboratory has cost. According to Hunter, U.S. Department of Energy recently, the Fukushima nucle- Beatrice Brailsford, nuclear phase, the U.S. Department been the lead manufacturer the price tag for the NuScale selected NuScale for five- ar accident in Japan. program director for the of Energy is picking up half of armor packages for the project is $4.2 billion, which year competitive funding of Scott Williams, executive Snake River Alliance, said the cost, while Hunter’s group U.S. Army’s Abrams main also includes the costs of up to $226 million, of which director of HEAL Utah, visit- the cleanup at Idaho National puts in $1.5 million, as well as battle tank. financing. Meanwhile, the NuScale will match. The ed with leaders from multiple Laboratory will take decades NuScale’s $1.5 million. costs of big traditional plants money is meant to acceler- Utah cities that are part of the as it is. Hunter said the group can The U.S. are escalating. The most ate the development of the NuScale project to persuade “Now is not the time to be back out at any time prior to Environmental recent U.S. plant, Vogtle in project ahead of competitors them there are other options. adding more nuclear waste,” construction if the costs and Georgia, cost $19 billion for like Russia or China. “We don’t believe nuclear she said. projected rates aren’t palat- 10. Protection the first two units and will be A study released in Sep- power is a necessary part At the NuScale project, 4 able to members. Agency and the laboratory $25 billion for the additional tember by the Massachusetts of their portfolio from a acres on the 35-acre site in Williams said he is skeptical operate an above-ground units now under construction. Institute of Technology gave reliability standpoint or from Idaho are designated as stor- those costs will ever be low water delivery system, which Proponents of the project a specific nod to NuScale and a diversification standpoint,” age for the spent nuclear fuel, enough, while Hunter said in 2017 was deliberately say the beauty of the NuScale small modular reactors as a he said. which actually is a solid. he believes the project could contaminated with a microbe design is that the reactors design ready for commercial- Williams said he believes Once nuclear fuel goes stabilize rates for participants related to anthrax. The test can’t melt down, can’t be ization. UAMPS is using outdated through a reactor once, it is for up to 40 years. was designed to determine hacked and the plant does “The Future of Nuclear En- assumptions about the need termed “spent,” even though As the project moves what methods would clean not have to be shut down to ergy in a Carbon Constrained to include base load genera- there is a significant amount forward, Hunter and his the piping most effectively. be refueled. The reactors are World” notes the specific role tion from nuclear power and of energy that remains. colleagues have been meeting underground and submerged of modular reactors to meet generate 40 to 80 year’s worth The used fuel, which is with community members The piping is ideal because in an 80-foot pool. energy needs in both devel- of nuclear waste in order to highly radioactive, is shielded both in Idaho and Utah to it is similar to what exists “This design is very simple oped and developing coun- assure system reliability. and cooled in water. answer questions and address across most cities today. in terms of its contrast to tries, especially with global UAMPS members, he The NRC requires five years concerns. the large reactors,” Hunter warming driving policy con- added, will be able to achieve of “wet fuel” storage, but “The critics — I am not The prototype said. “The simplicity in this siderations and laws around the same reliability at lower Hunter said the NuScale plant going to criticize them for for the thing made it pass the design fossil fuel consumption. rates within 10 to 20 years will have the capability to their fear,” he said. “We are 11.reactor used certification process quick- Hunter said with that pres- with innovations in energy ef- store the material twice that really trying to engage with in the USS Nautilus, the first ly, which for UAMPS, was sure on to reduce emissions, ficiency, grid integration and long. folks, and be open. This is a nuclear-powered submarine, reassuring.” member cities are looking to energy storage technology. In After it reaches a certain community decision. If the was tested at Idaho National In December 2017, the craft a clean energy portfolio the meantime, Williams said, radioactive temperature, the community doesn’t want to Nuclear Regulatory Commis- that shifts away from tradi- they can use existing natural pellets are put in dry cask do it, we are not going to Laboratory. A total of four sion determined NuScale did tional sources like coal. gas peaking plants as a bridge storage in steel cylinders. make them do it. My job is to nuclear navy prototypes not need a redundant power The group is investing in technology, which while Hunter said the site can implement their decisions.” were built at the site and source because of its self- “micro energy” projects such carbon-based is still much less store 60 years of waste, EMAIL: [email protected] were used to train thousands cooling features. as wind, rooftop solar and intensive than coal. which is overseen by the U.S. TWITTER: amyjoi16 of U.S. Navy members.