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Utah Revives Green River Nuclear Plan With Holtec SMR Partnership

Promising local jobs, state backing, lower cooling water needs, the partnership leaves licensing, timeline and capacity unresolved.

Overview

  • Fulcrum Point Holdings and Blue Castle announced a joint agreement Wednesday to revive the long-dormant Green River project using Holtec’s SMR-300 small modular reactor design and an air-cooling option.
  • The companies said they will pursue joint licensing and deployment planning but gave no schedule and did not confirm how much power the Emery County site would produce.
  • Local and state leaders framed the deal as an economic boost that fits Gov. Spencer Cox’s Operation Gigawatt push for more nuclear capacity and jobs in rural Utah.
  • Environmental groups and some community voices renewed objections, citing past water-rights fights, Colorado River scarcity, concerns about taxpayer exposure and questions about SMR maturity.
  • The revived plan shifts from the original 3,000-megawatt concept toward modular units that are typically paired for roughly 640 megawatts between two SMR-300s, and the move follows other Utah SMR activity such as projects in Brigham City and tests at the San Rafael site.