Merlin Rushton, who is the Planning Manager and Overhaul Coordinator for Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), was an unexpected presenter at the 2022 Eastern Utah Economic Summit on Thursday, visiting with exciting news. Rushton has worked at RMP for about 13 years and was eager to share the big announcement that was released earlier that day.
He explained that PacifiCorp and TerraPower are currently in the process of research and development of a new nuclear facility in Wyoming. Last year, the companies announced their plans to bring the Natrium demonstration plant to Kemmerer, Wyoming, where a PacifiCorp coal-fueled power plant is slated for retirement.
“The companies’ combined commitment to providing carbon-free energy solutions, while maintaining grid reliability and integrating baseload power that can support intermittent energy resources, make the Natrium technology ideal for deployment across PacifiCorp’s system,” stated a release by PacifiCorp.
Thursday’s announcement was that PacifiCorp and TerraPower will be making a joint effort to expand Natrium technology deployment by providing five additional sites for the purpose of a dispatch-able power unit. Rushton explained that their plan is to use existing generation sites.
In a release, TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque stated that the joint study is a significant step toward building the energy grid of the future for PacifiCorp customers. Rushton stated that they should be a good candidate for the site and they hope to have the units operational by 2035.
“By working together on the Natrium demonstration plant and jointly studying the feasibility of adding up to five additional commercial units by 2035, TerraPower and PacifiCorp seek to identify opportunities to reduce cost for PacifiCorp’s customers and more broadly deploy advanced Natrium reactors,” the release shared.
It was explained that this joint study will evaluate, among other things, the potential for advanced reactors to be located near current fossil-fueled generation sites. This will enable PacifiCorp to repurpose existing generation and transmission assets for the benefit of the customers.
“The location of future Natrium plants will be thoroughly explored through this study process, and both companies will engage with local communities before any final sites are selected,” the release stated.
Rushton explained that the Natrium plants would produce approximately 350 megawatts per unit, which is similar to the 400 megawatts per unit at the Hunter Plant. He said that each megawatt generally equates to one job, so units placed in the local community would have a large impact on the economy and job market.
“This is part of our goal as a company to provide a reliable, sustainable future for the communities we already participate in,” Rushton concluded. “Typically a nuclear facility will employ as much or more as a coal facility.”