Utah has a concrete nuclear plan. Ten small modular reactors, a manufacturing hub for SMR components destined for global export, a workforce training center, and a reactor already brought to zero-power criticality. Governor Spencer Cox arrived at the Western Governors Association meeting in Park City on June 30 with a detailed dossier in hand — not a promise.
At the heart of the project is Brigham City, a city of 20,000 on Interstate 15, set to become the nuclear hub of the American Mountain West. There, Holtec International and Hi Tech Solutions will build a manufacturing facility for components of the SMR-300 — a 300-megawatt-electric reactor per module — alongside a training center for thousands of nuclear industry workers, expected to be operational by 2028. The overall plan calls for $750 million in private investment and the creation of roughly 750 construction-phase jobs, plus 600 permanent positions. Holtec has already designated Utah as the preferred Western production site for its SMR-300, with the goal of deploying up to 4 gigawatts of capacity across Utah and Wyoming by the early 2030s.
On the technical front, on June 18 the Ward 250 reactor built by Valar Atomics at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville achieved first criticality at zero power — making it the first reactor authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy to be constructed outside a national laboratory. A tangible milestone, not a press release. As for SMR deployment sites, the regional plan envisions four reactors in Brigham City and up to ten spread across the state, fully operational in the early 2030s. A joint venture between Fulcrum Point Holdings and Blue Castle Holdings adds an additional site in Green River, with SMR-300 technology and a federal licensing process already underway.
The political framework that made all of this possible is called Operation Gigawatt: an initiative launched by Cox to double Utah’s energy capacity over the next decade, converting some coal plants and adding nuclear and geothermal capacity. The state already boasts the lowest electricity rates in the United States and intends to keep it that way. Coal still accounts for 46% of the energy mix, natural gas for 34% — leaving substantial room for nuclear. Cox rallied the governors of Idaho and Wyoming into a trilateral agreement for a regional SMR-based energy corridor, and has since expanded the coalition to eleven Western states, which on June 30 signed a joint agreement to accelerate high-voltage transmission line permitting, backed by a $60 billion investment plan.
The real battle, however, is playing out in Washington. Cox and his fellow governors are calling on Congress to reform federal energy regulations, starting with the National Environmental Policy Act — a 1970 law that has long slowed or stalled major infrastructure projects. Permitting reform was back on the legislative agenda before Congress’s summer recess, though the path forward remains narrow. If Congress chooses to align itself with the Utah model, the Mountain West could become the proving ground for America’s first commercial SMR fleet.
