The nuclear industry is seeing a big influx of federal cash in the West.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the Intermountain West Nuclear Energy Corridor Tech Hub $31 million dollars. Then, the hub received another about $9 million in private matching funds.
Those dollars could benefit more than two dozen partners in Idaho and Wyoming, including colleges, state agencies and private companies.
One big priority for the funding is workforce development, according to Hope Morrow, vice president of the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium, which leads the tech hub.
She said the money is set to bolster training programs at community colleges and universities in Idaho and Wyoming, including a chemical engineering technician program at Gillette College, in northeastern Wyoming.
Those investments could, in turn, help create a national pipeline of workers.
“For the last 30 years, we've watched nuclear engineering programs and other nuclear programs shut down across the country, across the globe. And so, now, we have to rebuild that base,” said Morrow, who is also a manager at Idaho National Laboratory, the country’s leading nuclear test grounds.
Morrow said dollars will also go toward bolstering supply chains, potentially getting manufacturers to expand into the nuclear industry. Plus, funds could help nuclear startups get their reactors to the market quickly and get through what’s called the “valley of death.”
That’s the early phase for new businesses, when they have begun operations but are still trying to generate enough money to survive.
“There are certain things that will choke them out, and two of those things are supply chain availability and workforce availability,” said Morrow.
The goal is to reduce those barriers, she said. For example, funding will go toward helping one company, Silicon Valley-based Oklo, develop its own fuel and a plan for transporting it.
This comes after four other start-ups recently turned on microreactors for the first time at labs in Idaho and Utah. They’re part of U.S. Department of Energy programs incentivizing nuclear development to address rising electricity demand.
The country has stalled adding new reactors to the grid for decades. That’s largely because public opinion soured toward nuclear energy in the 1970s and ‘80s amid public incidents such as the ones at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.
The latest polling data shows acceptance is growing. A March Gallup survey showed that 46% of respondents said they want the U.S. to put more emphasis on nuclear energy, up from 37% in 2013. However, the majority of participants still said they don’t want a nuclear plant in their backyard.
Other critiques of nuclear energy revolve around safety. Some experts in the field worry that development is moving too fast and that the Trump administration is removing necessary guardrails.
In addition to the $31 million going to the Intermountain West nuclear hub, the Department of Commerce is sending more than $100 million in additional funding to other tech hubs nationwide, including ones focused on manufacturing and critical minerals.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
