County will seek nuclear ability

UMATILLA COUNTY – Umatilla County is seeking a path through the state legislature to allow the county to start a pilot program to use small modular nuclear reactors. The goal is to be able to attract more high-energy users to locate in the county in areas where the infrastructure might not meet their needs.

Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran says after approximately nine months of work, the county government believes it has found a way to make use of the small modular reactors (SMRs). A legislative concept has been filed with the state for consideration in 2025 to designate a pilot project in Umatilla County.

“We are asking that it require a referendum of the local population,” Dorran said. “We want to actually ask the voters in Umatilla County, ‘Do we want this?’ We hear every day that we want it from our constituents, but does the county as a whole want it?”

Dorran says that if the legislation is passed sometime over the next two years, the operation would be up and running in seven to eight years.

“What we’re looking at is SMR projects that are scalable; basically in the 50 to 60 megawatt range,” he said. “If it’s a project that needs 120, you just put two units together.”

Dorran said project developers, not the county, would pay for development. He added that the federal government does have a path for a national waste repository and technology development could include recycling spent radioactive waste to be used again.

Graphic from the U.S. Department of Energy

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Elkhorn Media Group

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