By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
The halls of the Emery County Administration building were packed on Tuesday, June 18, as the Emery County Commissioners invited the public to a hearing on the future of Nuclear Industries within the county.
Through the hour-and-a-half hearing, both pro and antinuclear citizens took to the podium to express support and concerns regarding the industry. Each attendee wanting to speak was given three minutes to do so, with an additional two minutes offered for second-time speakers.
Commissioner Keven Jensen opened the affair by explaining that the reactors coming to the San Rafael Energy Research Center weren’t like the typical, large reactors people envision when considering nuclear energy. Instead, it would be microreactors, small enough to be hauled by semitrucks, that would be tested at the facility.
Opening the comment period was Ron Dunn, a staffer at the congressional office of Mike Kennedy. Dunn expressed excitement for the industry coming to Emery, “the congressman is in favor of all kinds of energy. He doesn’t want us relying on any one thing because, as we have seen in this neck of the woods, congressional action can kill industries and put people behind the eightball.”
Others echoed this support, especially as coal faces an uncertain future. One citizen shared how Emery had always been progressive when accepting new energy technology and hoped it would continue with nuclear power. Another shared that she wasn’t against coal, but wanted to see the county embrace nuclear because of the jobs it could bring in the future and its long-term implications on reliable power.
“I am pro-nuclear, and I am also pro-coal, and you can be both,” said Kevin Butler. “I think that our community thinks that you have to choose one side, but really, any type of energy that is helping our economy and our community grow and giving safe jobs to the people that live here is important.”
Butler also asked that the Commission be more transparent with matters like this, a statement which San Rafael Energy Research Center Lab Director Jaron Wallace agreed with. “I think you guys are right. I think that’s vital. You need to know what’s going on. I’ll speak on my part that we’re not trying to keep anything from anybody. What we know, as long as we’re not under NDA to not share it, we’re happy to share.” He continued,” My challenge to you guys: reach out to your community leaders, the Commissioners if you have questions. Funnel them through the Commission to get them to us. If you have our contact information, contact us directly if there’s something you want to know or if we’re holding meetings and you aren’t learning about them; if there’s something we can do better, please get that information to us because, as has been said, this is the first of many. We want that information to get out to you guys and we want to figure out the best way to do that.”
The primary concern raised by those opposing nuclear energy within Emery was that of safety and security. “I worked with individuals from Monticello when I worked for the state. Many of their families were dying from cancer and environmental cancer right now is booming. I have a relative whose family has three people who have died of cancer. Cancer is a scare and I’m concerned about our safety. It’s like you say anything can happen,” said Susan Sitterud.
Cancer concerns continued when Barbra Jones, an atomic testing cancer survivor, took the podium. “I have four siblings; three of us had cancer, and two have passed away. I’m not sold on the safety of it. I am the person who believes that anything can happen, and it did happen in my family; that’s just my immediate family. I have four other cousins who also got cancer from the atomic testing.” Jones continued,” I want to be assured that it will be safe in my backyard. I think my family has suffered enough from undefined testing. I don’t want my children and grandchildren to go through the same thing that myself and my siblings did.”
Other concerns regarding the reactors surrounding security and how the reactors would be protected from outside malicious interference. “There always are concerns about security, but I know with nuclear power, the security is crazy,” said Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington, jokingly adding,” You’d be able to break into my jail a lot easier than breaking into the plant, but if anybody wants to try I’m up for it.”
“I think the key to this meeting is how hard you want us to push as a Commission for things in our community. We want to communicate with you,” said Commissioner Jordan Leonard. “Sometimes we have quick decisions that we have to make but with this one we have time to think about it and get your opinion and thoughts. We want to be on the same team, so if we are aggressive in pursuing these industries, we want you to be involved, and we’ll work together to get it done.”
“I really appreciate the civility there’s been here tonight. I didn’t quite know what to expect,” said Commissioner Dennis Worwood, closing the meeting. “As far as input, I’ve been asked to serve on one of the state energy boards. They’ve created legislation this year that, I think, created three different boards. So I’ll carry the county’s banner up there and try to keep everybody informed as that comes along.”
A full stream of the public hearing is available on YouTube at KOAL-Castle Country Focus.