According to its website, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition is currently comprised of seven counties in eastern Utah: Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, San Juan, Sevier, and Uintah. The website describes the Coalition’s main roles and mission as "to identify revenue-producing infrastructure assets that will benefit the region" and "to plan infrastructure corridors, procure funding, permit, design, secure rights-of-way and own such facilities," with operation and maintenance possibly outsourced to third parties.
Apparently under consideration by the Coalition are energy projects, including a "thorium energy" project and a "hydrogen plant" project. For example, the "Procurement" section of the Coalition's website includes a Request for Qualifications for Project Analyst for Potential Thorium Energy and Hydrogen Plant Projects, as well as a Request for Qualifications Project Financial Analyst on Potential Thorium Energy Project.
Under the Project Analyst RFQ, which closed August 1, 2017,
The Coalition seeks an individual or team to act as a Project Analyst to advise it and its member counties on two proposed projects, how to evaluate emerging technologies, and the respective project teams. One project is a thorium energy facility for producing electricity, etc. as proposed by Alpha Tech Research Corporation. The second project consists of hydrogen plants to be used as fueling stations for hydrogen/electric semi-trucks as proposed by Nikola Motor Company, LLC.Responsibilities defined in this original RFQ would include evaluation of the thorium energy and hydrogen plant projects, including an evaluation of "the feasibility and viability of projects in general, as well as the proposed projects, and determine how the Coalition and its members may use their assets to best benefit the public."
According to its website, Alpha Tech Research Corp.'s motto is "Changing the face of nuclear power with clean, safe, molten salt reactor technology." But little other public information is easy to find on the company.
Thorium is a radioactive element that can be used in a nuclear reactor as a fuel for power production. It is distinct from the uranium-based fuel used in traditional nuclear power plants. Some limited research and development was conducted on thorium-based reactors in the twentieth century, but recent projects and all commercial reactors rely the uranium fuel cycle. Proponents of thorium reactors suggest abundant fuel supplies and reduced weapons proliferation risk compared to uranium, combined with other advantages of nuclear power such as reliable baseload generation with zero carbon emissions. Some point to Utah's mineral richness as a cost-effective source for lithium, beryllium, and other materials that could be useful in molten salt reactor resign. But crucially the technology, regulation, and business structures necessary to support a thorium reactor may not yet exist.
Fifteen days after the Project Analyst RFQ closed, the Coalition issued another request for qualifications "to seek an individual or team to act as a Project Analyst to advise it and its member counties on a proposed project related to thorium energy. In addition, the Coalition seeks guidance on how to evaluate emerging technologies, and companies or groups proposing projects to the Coalition. The thorium energy facility for producing electricity, etc. is proposed by Alpha Tech Research Corporation." Proposals under this subsequent RFQ are due by 2:00 PM on October 2, 2017. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, a coalition representative reported, "The coalition’s initial request for qualifications drew no adequate responses by its Aug. 1 deadline." (Query why not.)
It's unclear how far the Utah counties' efforts can go. The coalition's stated criteria for evaluating potential projects include requiring appropriate project benefits (such as facilitating needs in rural Utah that would otherwise go unaddressed), as well as avoidance of any "fatal flaws" (such as "obvious non-Coalition sponsor that should take the lead", project success unlikely" and "low perceived benefit compared to cost.") The coalition is presumably at the stage where it is seeking expert advice to help it evaluate the thorium energy project under these criteria.
In its materials, the coalition emphasizes its expectation to rely on public-private partnerships, in part to allocate project risk to private entities with special expertise in taking those risks. But developing the first commercial thorium reactor inherently involves a variety of risks -- including developing a technology that works, securing all necessary regulatory approvals, and having business or financial arrangements in place that make the project a success. These risks could pan out in the counties' favor -- but might not. A coalition of South Carolina utilities developing what would have been the nation's first new commercial nuclear reactor recently announced a decision to suspend that project partway through construction, following years of delay, billions of dollars in cost overruns. While a thorium reactor might avoid some of these challenges, others are likely systemic to the state of the nuclear power industry from a technological, regulatory, and business perspective, and would be hard for the counties to avoid. The counties may also have more proximate opportunities to achieve similar goals, including by facilitating or developing renewable energy infrastructure.
At the same time, the coalition deserves credit for thinking proactively and considering its options. Whether the coalition continues to pursue thorium energy, or focuses on less speculative projects, the coalition's fundamental mission remains "to improve the quality of life through cooperative regional planning, increased economic opportunity, and sustainable implementation." With the right balance of risk and reward, its evaluation of proposed projects could advance that mission.
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