Blue Castle reactors for Green River, Utah?

It is one of four locations being considered for a 3,000 MWe plant, but questions about costs and credibility remain unanswered

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that advocates for a nuclear energy power plant in Utah have indicated a "strong candidate" is an industrial park in the Green River, UT, area near the intersection of Route 6 and Interstate 70. Aaron Tilton, the head of a business group called "Transition Power," which is pushing the effort, said the location is one of four his business group is evaluating as a site.

Reed Searle, director of strategic relations for Transition Power, called the industrial park near the intersection of Route 6 and Interstate 70 "the preferred location" last week. However, the Tribune also reported that Tilton, "balked" at the term "preferred" while confirming the new industrial park is a "strong candidate" for reactors. Tilton told the Tribune, "It's not the only place" under consideration, but one that would meet the licensing criteria - we think."

That's not a strong vote of confidence by Tilton for the site and probably represents crossed signals within Transition Power. Searle is an experienced executive from a coal-fired utility in Utah, and isn't likely to make off-the-cuff comments to the press. He was director of the Utah Energy Office in the 1980s and later was the executive director of the Intermountain Power Agency, which provides coal-generated electricity mainly to California. Searle left the IPA last year to join Transition Power. Tilton is the public face of the effort which has several other former nuclear industry managers as consultants to the firm including Nils Diaz, a former chairman of the NRC.

Neither Tilton nor Searle said where the other three sites are located. Last year there were press reports one site would be in Kane county along Utah's southern border with Arizona. This was based on a water rights deal arranged by Rep. Mike Noel who is also the executive director of the water authority in Kane County.

Tilton transitions from the legislature

In terms of the Green River site, which is at the other end of the state, Tilton (left) said, "What is preferred about it is that there is a lot of local support." However, accurately assessing local political support isn't exactly Tilton's strongest suit. He lost his bid for re-election and is leaving the legislature at the end of his current term. According to press reports at the time, Tilton angered Mapleton area residents over plans for a residential subdivision in an environmentally sensitive area,

The Deseret News reported last April Tilton lost his seat in the Utah House when delegates at the Republican State Convention in District 65 gave Francis Gibson, a reported "upstart candidate," a two vote margin with 70 of 115 votes, or 60.8 percent. That gave Gibson the Republican nomination and dropped Tilton from the republican ticket.

Transition Power pops up on NRC's radar

Transition Power reportedly will file a formal application with the NRC for the new nuclear plant in 2010. Indeed, the "Blue Castle Project" is now listed on the NRC's table of expected applications for a combined construction and operating license. If built, the twin reactor project would generate 3,000 MWe. The initial plans for the plant were for a mere 900 MWe to replace a now cancelled third unit for the coal-fired IPA utility.

Other projects slated for the Green River industrial park include one from Mancos Resources, the U.S. subsidiary of British Columbia-based Blue Rock Resources Ltd., to build a $100 million uranium mill. it will also require an NRC license, but its fate isn't tied to plans by Transition Power for a nuclear reactor nearby.

Opposition says speak out early

John Urgo, HEAL Utah's outreach director, told the Tribune it is critical that the community get involved in the process.

"Once Emery County decides to sell and rezone land for Tilton's nuclear reactors, the process moves from the county's control into the hands of the federal government," he said. "If Green River wants a voice, now is the time to speak up."

Costs & credibility are on the line

At $3,500/Kw a 3,000 MWe plant will cost $10.5 billion. The license application alone will cost $50M or more depending on the reactor type chosen by the company. Twin Areva EPRs at 1,600 MW each would fill the bill, but there are other choices.

A key issue is whether the transmission and distribution infrastructure in Utah could handle the new power load. Transition Power isn't a utility and needs one as a partner on the project to get the electricity to customers, some of whom would probably be in California. All this adds up to a lot of money. Transition Power hasn't said how it will raise that kind of investment in the project.

Finally, and this is the area where Tilton has spent a lot of time, there is the question of whether Utah will adopt a plan similar to Florida which allows a regulated utility to charge the rate base, e.g., consumers, for construction costs while the plant is being built. Progress Energy in Florida just got approval to build two new nuclear reactors using this regulatory model. Previous efforts along these lines in Utah have shown the state to be conflicted about this issue. Tilton and Noel took a lot of heat last year about perceived "conflict of interest" for their efforts to move Utah in this direction. If the legislature doesn't change the law, Transition Power would be looking at a Merchant plant financial model that would bear the entire risk of the cost of the project.

For the moment Tilton's project, Merchant or not, still looks like it fails to pass the world famous "baloney test" for new nuclear builds. A key signal is that, for now, the firm's executives can't seem to get their stories straight in public about where they plan to build the plant.

It will take a lot more work for Transition Power to prove that it is a serious effort to build and operate a nuclear power plant in Utah. Readers who think this assessment is unfair should read NRC Chairman Dale Klein's "no bozos" speech about new entries into the nuclear power industry. None of this is to suggest that Transition Power doesn't mean what it says. Proof of its intentions will be in credible actions.

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