Engaging Wyoming Communities in an Environmental Justice Approach for Advanced Nuclear Energy Facility Siting: Historical Energy and Industrial Analysis Report
Budowle, Rachael Djokić, Denia Righetti, Tara Bourque, Maggie Duba, Alyssa Wechsler Stubblefield, Nicholas Edwards, Colton Hughes, Montgomery Elijah, Vigil Reese, Dayton
Budowle, Rachael
Djokić, Denia
Righetti, Tara
Bourque, Maggie
Duba, Alyssa Wechsler
Stubblefield, Nicholas
Edwards, Colton
Hughes, Montgomery
Elijah, Vigil
Reese, Dayton
Abstract
In June 2021, the private company, TerraPower, in partnership with electric utility, PacifiCorp, and the United States Department of Energy via its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, announced plans to site its Natrium advanced nuclear reactor near the retiring Naughton Power Plant in Kemmerer, located in southwest Wyoming. This marks the first commercial advanced nuclear energy facility to begin construction in the United States. Our research explores this case and aims to inform an adaptable community engagement process for advanced nuclear energy siting and development, as proposals to develop similar facilities are rapidly increasing. Within this research, the Historical Energy and Industrial Analysis assesses two distinct but interrelated approaches for understanding preliminary needs and questions for environmental justice and community engagement in advanced nuclear energy facility siting contexts. The approaches include 1) a humanities- and justice-oriented cultural history of energy and nuclear energy across the fuel cycle in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and the western United States by comparing existing case studies and media analyses; and 2) an industrial siting history within and immediately nearby Kemmerer, including current and previous industrial development, energy siting and extraction, environmental violations, potential brownfield and greenfield locations, environmental enforcement actions, polluted locations, and waste management.
Description
Date
2024-10-30
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University of Wyoming Libraries
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Keywords
Advanced Nuclear Energy,Community Engagement,Nuclear Facility Siting,Cultural History,Natrium Reactor,Media Analysis,Industrial History,Engaging Communities in Nuclear Siting