Blue Castle Holdings COO Thomas Retson answered questions Wednesday at the Museum of the San Rafael about the planned nuclear power plant in Green River.
Retson, the guest speaker at the Emery County Business Summit’s morning session, the project is currently in the licensing stage. Construction would begin once licensing is completed.
One attendee asked who might be hired to work on the project.
“We want local people,” Retson said. “We can get local people who have power plant backgrounds.”
Retson said 4,000 construction workers would build the new plant over a five-year period. Plant operations would require another 800 to 1100 workers once construction was completed.
Another attendee raised concerns about housing so many workers.
“I look forward to the day when someone complains to me that we don’t have enough housing,” Retson responded. “Think about what that means.”
Retson also spoke about fuel and plant waste.
“There is a location on site that is already designated for [waste] storage,” Retson said. “Subsurface storage of spent nuclear fuel [is safe]. The plant storage room has enough space to hold 100 years worth of waste.”
Retson said two years of plant operation would only require loads from three 18-wheel flat bed trucks.