A consumer backlash against the highly-touted small nuclear reactors (SMR) has developed in Utah. This week, the Utah Taxpayers Association, a nearly 100-year-old conservative governmental watchdog organization in the state, warned Utah municipal utilities members of Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), to bailout of the Oregon-based NuScale Power SMR project before a September deadline that will commit them to further funding.
In a virtual press conference, the taxpayers group said the project – to build 12 60-MW (720-MW of nameplate capacity) units on Department of Energy land at the Idaho National Laboratory and sell power to the Utah munis – is certain to come in over budget and off schedule. Rusty Cannon, vice president of the taxpayers association, said, “The UAMPS project will lock in 27 municipalities in Utah and several in surrounding states for a share of billions of dollars in costs and unclear risk in the pursuit of a cluster of small modular reactors touted by Oregon-based NuScale Power, which repeatedly has delayed timelines and increased costs associated with its SMRs.”
Also speaking at the news conference, Peter Bradford, a nuclear skeptic and former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who also served as the chairman of both the New York Public Service Commission and the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said that “there is the very real possibility of large rate increases to the customers in these communities due to inadequate safeguards in this project.”
In an email to reporters, the taxpayer group raised four problems they saw with the NuScale-UAMPS deal:
* Construction costs. The group said the NuScale website estimated the construction costs of a nominal 684-MW plant at $3 billion. But in a July public meeting, the company said the hypothetical project construction would cost $5 billion. Later that month, the company projected a cost of $6.1 billion.
* Schedule delays. Initially, NuScale said its project could be in service in 2015-2016. Later, that became 2023, and the latest estimate is the first 60-MW unit would be in service in 2026.
* “Low-balled energy price.” Initial projections given to UAMPS said the plant would have a cost of $55/MWh in 2018 dollars. Independent projections put the cost at $95-125/MWh.
* Reliance on federal subsidies. UAMPS has said it expects a “massive increase” in DOE funding for the project, from $60 million today to $1.4 billion to achieve the $55/MWh cost estimate.
The Salt Lake Tribune noted that only Murray City in Salt Lake County has signed on to the UAMPS deal, committing $300,000 to the project. Moving ahead before the Sept. 14 deadline would obligate the city to another $1.3 million.
The Utah Taxpayers Association was founded in 1922. It is a 501(c)4 organization under the U.S. tax code, which means its funders are not disclosed to the public. It says its first goal is to ensure “that taxes are low and fair. We use the term ‘fair’ to suggest that the tax code shouldn’t be picking winners and losers – all taxpayers should be treated the same.”
— Kennedy Maize