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Gov. Spencer Cox and other state leaders are looking at a rural corner of northern Utah to become a hub of nuclear energy development in the
Intermountain West.
The governor announced plans to build a training center and manufacturing plant in Brigham City Monday. In partnership with Holtec International, an energy engineering firm, and Hi Tech Solutions, a nuclear services firm establishing a new base in Utah, the city in Box Elder County will eventually build the components for a fleet of small modular reactors and ship them to locations throughout the region.
At least two of the small nuclear reactor power plants will be built somewhere near Brigham City itself, officials said. No small modular reactors are currently operating in the United States, though several projects are in various stages of design and regulatory approval.
“Why Brigham City?” said Mayor DJ Bott at an event announcing the project. “Heck, why not?”
Cox said the partnership aligned with his Operation Gigawatt, an initiative to significantly ramp up power production in the state to meet growing demand.
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