Brigham City, Utah, is seen from the west. (Photo by Brycia James/Getty Images)
Brigham City, a 20,000-people municipality an hour north of Salt Lake City, may become a pioneer in Utah’s efforts to become a nuclear force. And, if everything goes according to plan, the state’s first small modular reactor may start operations in the area in a little more than a decade.
That’s what executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources Joel Ferry hopes and plans for the city now that Hi Tech Solutions, a nuclear power and energy services company, and Holtec International, an energy equipment supplier, are setting up shop in town.
“My goal,” Ferry said, “is to have power flowing within 12 years from a nuclear power generation facility here in Box Elder County.”
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To reach the partnership’s energy goals, the companies need to build multiple small modular reactors, said Chris Hayter, co-founder of Hi Tech Solutions — about four in northern Utah, plus others in different sites across the state and the West.
For a nuclear power plan project, that’s a tight timeline. The newest reactor in the country, Vogtle’s Unit 4 located in Waynesboro, Georgia, started commercial operations in 2024 after starting construction in 2009 with an initial 2017 deadline pushed back for seven years. Utah officials, however, say that times have changed, especially with the Trump administration’s efforts to streamline nuclear permitting.
“Just because a permit to do a nuclear power plant takes 15 years doesn’t mean it’s any safer than one that other countries are doing in five,” Ferry said. But also, he added the state is committed to ensuring the process is done well to ensure safety.
But the vision officials from the city, state and the companies have for Brigham City extends beyond the potential of small modular reactors. It’s what Gov. Spencer Cox described as “a full-scale energy ecosystem” during an event announcing the partnership in Brigham City.
“This project aims to build a fleet of small modular reactors, but it will do so much more than that,” Cox said. “It creates a nuclear hub that manufactures the parts needed to operate and run advanced nuclear technologies like (small modular reactors), not just here, but all over the world, and a workforce training center that will bring stable, high-paying jobs to Brigham City.”
Not only would this project advance Cox’s ambitions to double the state’s energy production, but it would also help Utah secure a role as leader in nuclear power generation, he said
“This project’s manufacturing effort will unlock economies of scale that lower cost and make civil nuclear energy more affordable for communities across Utah and wherever this model is going to be adopted,” Cox said.
The Brigham City project will start with advanced manufacturing to build small modular reactors, which will be used in Utah and also deployed throughout the West, Ferry said.
Hayter said he also hopes the plant manufacturing operations in the city will attract other industries, including defense manufacturing.
There will also be an effort to train people to work in the nuclear energy space, with a big emphasis on veteran recruiting, and a boost through the “catalyst center” expansion that the Utah Legislature approved this year to enhance technical education offers in the state.
The third phase of the project will be siting and development of the nuclear power generators in Box Elder County.
Brigham City Mayor DJ Bott was enthusiastic about the city’s nuclear energy prospects during the announcement.
“Why Brigham City? Heck, why not? Innovation is part of who Brigham City is,” he said on Monday.
Bott highlighted that the project will create high-paying jobs, and for some families, it could be transformative since “we won’t have to export our children and grandchildren to find good careers,” he said.
More details and project milestones will be announced in the coming months, and the process will be transparent to the public, the mayor said.
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