Delegates Debate Merits Of Micro Nuclear Generators, Danger To Coal

On paper, House Bill 2205 is a fairly simple bill: it clarifies that the construction and operation of small nuclear reactors for electric power generation in the state falls under the jurisdiction of the West Virginia Public Service Commission. 

Del. Henry C. Dillon, R-Wayne, stood to oppose the bill, asking if nuclear power would lead to the decarbonization of the electrical grid.

“A few years ago, when the coal plants were being closed down, a phrase that we heard quite often was ‘Learn to code.’” he said. “You got displaced from your job at the mine or at the power plant? Just learn to code. And I wonder now, is this aligning with our core competencies and our skilled workforce in West Virginia? Are we essentially going to tell people, ‘Learn to nuke’?”

The vice chair of the House Energy and Public Works Committee Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, told the House his committee heard testimony that at least one microreactor was expected to be used at Marshall University for academic purposes. 

Zatezalo recalled a similar application of a micro reactor 50 years ago at his alma mater of the University of Missouri, and said the reactor could be used for nuclear material analysis. He highlighted the potential economic implications of such analysis to identify rare earth metals in coal ash.

“If we have ash piles; I don’t know whether we do, but I suspect we do from coal, you could do slides and determine what critical minerals could be in those in that ash and get ready to use it for something better. That’s just one example,” Zatezalo said.  

Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, is the bill’s lead sponsor. He said emergent technology like artificial intelligence and electric vehicles will triple electricity demand in coming years and diversifying the state’s energy sources will help to sell power to markets averse to coal generation.

“The math problem requires more coal, but the math problem also requires, if we’re going to enter into new markets, to be the battery of the East Coast, then we’re going to have to add something else,” Steele said. “These are real jobs. These are high paying jobs in a high technology environment, as I told the gentleman from the 11th they are anchors. They don’t go away.”

The vice chair of the Environment, Infrastructure, and Technology Committee Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, clarified that the bill does not mandate the creation of any new facilities but simply establishes the regulatory mechanisms to do so in the future. 

Steele likened the bill to the first step of 100 needed to make the technology a reality on the ground, which he said could attract energy-intense industry to the state.

“We had some renewed interest in it now, as we’re seeing some different manufacturing concerns coming to the state, and the impetus of it being, you know, a lot of these manufacturers have a high demand for base load power,” he said. “Them being able to have a micro reactor of this sort, it actually puts an anchor in that manufacturing concern, because you’re talking about a 50, you know, year type of project when you’re putting A micro reactor in something rather than just hooking it only to the existing grid.”

House Bill 2205, to clarify local jurisdiction over micro nuclear reactors, passed the House on a vote of 90 to 5, and now heads to the Senate for further consideration.