A majority of Utah residents are on board with a nuclear power plant in Utah, with 65% who say they are in support, compared to 31% who are opposed, and another 4% who have yet to make up their mind.
A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll by Dan Jones & Associates found residents are hungry for a new form of base load power. Here's the breakdown of the survey, conducted among 801 registered Utah voters:
- 36% strongly in favor
- 29% somewhat in favor
- 12% somewhat opposed
- 19% strongly opposed
- 4% don't know
This widespread support for nuclear power comes as PacifiCorp is pursuing TerraPower’s Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactors at multiple sites in the West to replace retiring coal-fired power plants.
TerraPower, founded and chaired by Bill Gates, has a demonstration project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, which PacifiCorp hopes to duplicate in Emery County at the Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants.
Forget the images of huge, sprawling nuclear reactors. This type of plant occupies a much smaller footprint, can ramp up quickly or shut down with speed and use passive cooling systems. In addition, they are far less vulnerable to natural events like earthquakes or other disasters, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
PacifiCorp, serving Utah and other states in the West, has made plain its intention to pursue nuclear power generation as a path moving forward with the release of its Integrated Resource Plan earlier this year.
Some of the Utah residents opposed to sourcing our energy from nuclear power plants worry about devastating consequences should there be a failure to the system — and the lingering public health and environmental impacts.
But these concerns seem to be limited to older Utahns. The poll results showed universal support for a nuclear power plant in Utah from those ages 18-24, with 0% opposed.