Proposed Nuclear Project Update
Photo by Shavonne Yu on Unsplash
March 3, 2023
Amanda Jones - Staff Writer with additional reporting by Allison Sayer
Editor’s Note: The Copper River Record does not have a position for or against the proposed nuclear power project in the area. We do have substantial conflicts of interest, including Copper Valley Electric Association (CVEA) being one of our major advertisers and also a donor to the separate nonprofit run by our editor. However, we feel that avoiding the topic altogether would be a greater disservice.
On Feb. 15, Copper Valley Electric Association (CVEA) held their second round of public meetings in Valdez and Glennallen regarding the possibility of constructing a micronuclear reactor (MMR) in the Copper River Basin or Valdez area. Amanda Jones attended the meeting at the Valdez Civic Center. It was directed by CVEA’s CEO,
Travis Million. Representatives from Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), CVEA’s proposed partner, were also present to answer questions and give technical information.
The project has not received a go-ahead from the community or from the board of CVEA as of yet. According to Million, a final decision of whether to proceed with the development of an MMR would not be made until at least late summer 2023.
A feasibility study done by CVEA last year, completed in November 2022, explored four possible build sites for an MMR in Valdez and one site in Glennallen. Million reported that CVEA has hired Anchorage-based consulting firm Electric Power Systems to be an overseer and unbiased third party to review the feasibility study and USNC’s proposals.
The proposed MMR would take up about five acres. The reactor building itself would be built underground. Results from the preliminary study found that the Glennallen site is not economical, and only two possible sites in Valdez would be suitable for the plant.
The most likely place for the reactor, currently, is between Solomon Gulch and the Petro Star Refinery on Dayville Road in Valdez. The property is currently owned by the University of Alaska.
The study also showed that the reactor would be most profitable if it was used to produce and sell industrial heat year-round to commercial businesses and also produce electricity for CVEA during winter months when hydropower is not available.
Because of the large amount of capital investment required for such a facility, and the board of CVEA determining that being in the business of creating and selling industrial heat for profit is not their primary function, CVEA is now leaning towards partnering with USNC to create a purchasing power agreement (PPA), if they decide to move forward.
In this scenario, USNC would provide the capital to develop the site and build the infrastructure, buying or leasing the land it is based on, and would then sell electricity directly to CVEA. CVEA would enter into an agreement to purchase electricity from the plant for a designated period of time.
CVEA and USNC project the facility would come online in 2028 at the earliest.
Community members asked about the cost of the plant. Neither Million nor USNC representatives could give a specific figure but did state that federal grants could potentially offset the cost of building the new infrastructure. Million added that Senator Lisa Murkowski has been supportive of the nuclear initiative in discussions CVEA has had with her.
USNC highlights design innovations distinct from conventional nuclear power plants. As far as uranium: there would be less of it, the system would not need to be refueled for at least ten years, and the fuel source would consist of a proprietary structure of ceramic-encapsulated individual grains.
Compared to a conventional plant, the cost and the physical footprint would be smaller, the operating temperature would be lower, and the time needed for the fuel to cool after it was spent would be shorter.
However, the innovative nature also means there are no complete USNC-built MMRs to compare this proposed project to.
Two MMR projects: one in Chalk River, Canada, and one in Illinois in partnership with the University of Illinois, are in the design and permitting phases. The CVEA project would be USNC’s third if approved.
Million shared a presentation about current usage trends of electricity by CVEA’s members, projected usage in the future, and why micro nuclear reactors are being considered. Million shared that while CVEA produces electricity very cost-effectively with hydropower during the summer, diesel generators are the only source of alternate power during winter months. CVEA saw a rise in fuel costs of 125% between January 1, 2021 and March 28, 2022 with the price of diesel fuel going from $1.75 to $4.50 per gallon in that timeframe.
Last year CVEA completed preliminary studies on a number of alternative energy sources, including geothermal, biomass, intertie, solar, and wind power. Their wind study came back with surprisingly bad results. On a scale of one to seven, with seven meaning an area has great potential for wind power, the Valdez and Copper River Basin came back with a score of only two.
Likelihood of wind turbulence disrupting wind power generation was also studied, and the area had a very poor score in this metric as well. These factors made CVEA abandon aspirations of harnessing wind power in the area as an alternative.
While solar power has potential for the area in the summer, hydro already provides very cheap and clean energy to the area during the same timeframe.
Million related commonly expressed community concerns since CVEA’s first public meeting in February of 2022 fall into three categories: the safety of the system, the environmental impacts, and the waste disposal. Much of the meeting was spent with community members asking questions regarding disposal of nuclear waste from the site.
The proposed MMR would last a projected 23 years before the core needed to be replaced. UNSC representatives explained the MMR cores are designed to cool in the open air for a period of six months to two years before they can be safely transported off-site.
The United States currently does not have a permanent facility for civilian nuclear-spent fuel disposal. USNC representatives said their partnership with CVEA would include an agreement that they would remove used fuel cells from the Valdez location to their own storage facility in lieu of a federal solution. Their own nuclear storage facility has also not been developed but is something the company is working on currently, according to representatives at the meeting.
With the sale of heat being a key aspect of making the project economically viable, community members asked about the possibility of attracting more businesses to Valdez with incentives of having this heat to use. The viability of greenhouses run from the industrial heat was discussed. The possibility of expanding and adding additional MMRs to sell electricity to other communities with interties in the future was also discussed.
Million shared that CVEA is expected to complete an intertie with Alyeska’s power system later this year, making the selling of electricity between the two entities another possibility to help offset electricity costs for both.
Safety and environmental impact questions and concerns were voiced by community members, as well as appreciation to CVEA for providing this information to the public and hosting this event.
Both Million and USNC representative Mary Woollen expressed openness to meeting with community members on an individual basis to discuss concerns and questions in greater depth as desired. Dates for future public meetings on the topic are to be determined.
More reporting on the Nuclear Project proposal:
Public Meeting On Proposed Nuclear Project
Valdez City Council Endorses Nuclear Microreactor Bills