Cowboy State Daily by Pat Maio 6/18/2024
The Wyoming Energy Authority has approved second phase of a $10 million effort by BWXT Technologies to determine the viability of building tiny nuclear power plants in the state.
Wyoming, which is scrambling to halt a federal attempt to close down its revenue-producing coal mining industry in the energy-rich Powder River Basin, is stepping up its ties with a major submarine power plant maker to evaluate the viability of building tiny nuclear reactors to augment a power-starved electrical grid.
Wyoming Energy Authority on Monday announced a multimillion-dollar award for Virginia-based BWX Technologies Inc. to begin the next phase of a year-old contract to further the design of its emerging tiny reactor design that could meet the specific needs of potential Wyoming end users, like southwestern Wyoming’s trona mining operations.
BWX Technologies’ bread and butter business is manufacturing tiny nuclear reactors for the U.S. Navy’s submarines fleet.
The contract was expected as Gov. Mark Gordon had touted the state’s nuclear friendliness to BWX Technologies on a recent visit to Virginia as well as a videoconferencing pitch at an Alaska trade conference, according those familiar with the deal.
Last August, BWX Technologies received nearly $10 million divided between the two phases of the contract awarded by the WEA’s Energy Matching Funds program.
WEA Director Rob Creager was not available for comment on the contract’s significance.
A BANR MoveAt the time of the initial deal last year, BWXT Technologies announced a two-phase, two-year contract with the WEA to assess the viability of deploying small-scale nuclear reactors in the state as a source of reliable energy to augment existing power generation sources.
The microreactor that BWX Technologies wants to build for the electrical grid is a commercial version of a military model that the Virginia contractor still needs to test out at the Idaho National Laboratory, one of the premier laboratories of the Department of Energy in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The new reactor, called the BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor, or BANR, is a modular, factory-fabricated system that is small and light enough to be transported by rail, ship or truck and generate about 50 megawatts of nuclear power, or enough to light up about 9,000 homes.
More:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/06/18/millions-more-given-to-build-tiny-nuclear-reactors-in-wyoming/
