Cox, federal leaders go all-in on nuclear energy in Utah
by Bridger Beal-Cvetko ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox hosted the Operation Gigawatt Summit with a focus on the future of nuclear energy.
- Cox said a Box Elder County data center project may need to use nuclear or other forms of energy in addition to natural gas.
- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a Utah reactor could move one step closer to power generation by July 4.
PARK CITY — State and federal leaders are going all-in on the future of nuclear energy in Utah and the governor suggested nuclear could play a role in a large data center project in Box Elder County.
Gov. Spencer Cox said nuclear and other renewable energy sources could be needed to power the controversial data center project, after initial plans called for the 40,000-acre facility to be primarily powered by natural gas. The governor noted that the Stratos Project Area still has to apply for air quality and other environmental permits before moving forward, which could prove difficult if the project is fueled entirely by natural gas.
"This idea that there's going to be nine gigawatts of natural gas power out there, that's never going to happen," Cox told reporters at his Operation Gigawatt Summit in Park City on Friday. "With current technology, you could never get all of that from natural gas. ... That's why what they're doing with advanced nuclear, with geothermal ... these are bridges to the new technologies that are ultimately going to power the things that we need over time."
He added that the project, backed by Canadian investor Kevin O'Leary, still needs to go through the permitting process and said, "They don't get to skip any steps."
Cox was joined onstage at the conference by several administration officials, including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. Zeldin was also asked about the data center project and whether it poses risks to the long-term health of the Great Salt Lake. The administrator said his agency is looking to help partner with Utah to address concerns — he said he's visiting the lake on Saturday — but that he didn't want to tell states what they should do.
"The one most important consistency across all the states in this country is to make sure that everyone's looking at the EPA as an agency that has a totally open door, willing to help however possible, and that's our attitude in Utah," Zeldin said.
Zeldin wasn't the only cabinet member in attendance at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley on Friday. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also touted President Trump's efforts to roll out nuclear energy, including a goal of quadrupling the amount of nuclear power produced by 2050.
Wright said a reactor in Utah could be one of the first new projects to sustain a nuclear fission chain reaction by July 4, in an effort to coincide with the semiquincentennial celebration of the nation's founding. The reactor was relocated from the Air Reserve Base in California and now resides at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville, Emery County.
Wright said the reactor is expected to become critical within the next few weeks, which means it will have a "self-sustaining chain reaction," according to John Wagner, the director of the Idaho National Laboratory. That's just one early step in the process of bringing more nuclear power online, but Wright was optimistic about meeting the administration's goals.
Nuclear power has raised safety concerns in the past. Wright and state leaders say modern nuclear technologies have made nuclear power a much safer way to generate electricity.
"We now have a track record in this country, a 60-plus year track record in this country of safe nuclear," Cox said.
And Wright said Utah is poised to be a leader on nuclear, as Cox and the White House signed an agreement meant to streamline the permitting process for infrastructure and energy projects in the state.
"It's got an administration perfectly aligned with Utah," he said. "I think Utah is going to lead the way and show building new energy generation, developing new jobs here, that's ... not only the way to get new jobs and therefore higher wages, but also the way to push down prices for all residents of Utah."
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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Bridger Beal-Cvetko
Bridger Beal-Cvetko is a reporter for KSL. He covers politics, Salt Lake County communities and breaking news. Bridger has worked for the Deseret News and graduated from Utah Valley University.