Reactor developer gets nod from DOE

The desert west of Idaho Falls was once home to 50 reactors. Those days are gone, but NuScale Power LLC has moved one step closer to its goal of building 12 small modular reactors generating 545 megawatts of power here by 2025.

NuScale announced Thursday that it has been selected as the winner of the second round of the U.S. Department of Energy’s competitively-bid, cost-sharing program to develop nuclear small modular reactor technology. As part of the award, NuScale will receive funding that will support the accelerated development of its NuScale Power Module™ SMR technology. NuScale will be required to match the Federal funds it receives, somewhere in the neighborhood of $226 million.

The regulatory hurdles are formidable and the permitting process alone will cost $1 billion, said Michael McGough, chief commercial officer for NuScale. A subsidiary of Fluor, NuScale has had a prototype small modular reactor in operation since 2003.

An artist's rendering of how NuScale's small modular reactor assembly would work. For a full story, visit this link: http://greenbuildingelements.com/2013/07/01/nuscale-powers-small-modular-reactor-chosen-as-preferred-technology-by-western-initiative-for-nuclear/

Compared to a typical pressurized water reactor of 1,000 megawatts, the  advantage to a small modular reactor of 45 megawatts is that it is a "plug and play" proposition, McGough said.

Fluor wants to market nuclear power plants to the world, which is why it bought NuScale in October 2011. "They want to build power plants around the world," he said.

It is possible that NuScale plants could be going online abroad sooner than they might in the United States. Now that this hurdle is cleared, they anticipate having their design certification application -- typically a document of around 10,000 pages -- submitted to the NRC in 2015. The review of that application would take 39 months, after which they need to get NRC permission to build.

"There's lots of things you have to do, and you have to do them right," McGough said.

Unlike traditional reactors, which rely on electric pumps to keep water on the fuel rods to keep them from melting, NuScale's self-contained, self-circulating reactors shut themselves down during a station blackout.

As for the selection of Idaho Falls, it's a case of going where you are wanted. "If the community won't support it, you just shouldn't try," he said.

The Western Governor's Association has had nuclear energy on its mind for the past three years. New hydro-electric projects aren't in the cards, and new coal-fired plants are out to the question. Wind and solar are intermittent sources and heavily subsidized. That leaves natural gas and nuclear for big baseline loads.

In June this year, at its conference in Park City, the Association released its "State of Energy in the West" report. One of the stated goals was to find ways to accelerate introduction of small modular reactors into Western states.

Shortly after that, NuScale announced the launch of the Western Initiative for Nuclear, a demonstration project in Idaho to be built and owned by a consortium of regional utilities including Energy Northwest and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), the latter of which Idaho Falls Power is affiliated with.

Economic development, circa 1949

Click to read a more legible version of this letter.

I've been researching local historical figures for a book called "Legendary Locals of Idaho Falls," due out in 2014 from Arcadia Publishing. One secondary source with a lot of good information is "Proving the Principle," a history of the Idaho National Laboratory.

While looking through it, I was intrigued by this memo from D.V. Groberg, a local developer, to E.F. McDermott, publisher of the Post-Register, detailing what needed to be done to land the Atomic Energy Commission's offices for the National Reactor Testing Station.

Anyone who thinks parks and golf courses don't matter in the economic development game need to take a look at this. Groberg's memo doesn't even mention the airport, which at the time was a landing strip with two log buildings but still better that the competitors'.

Competition came from Arco and Blackfoot, both of whom were found to be too small and lacking in services, and Pocatello.

Idaho Falls ended up beating out the "Gate City" by putting on better parties, hosted by the most "winsome" young ladies the boosters could trot out for the visitors. Pocatello, on the other hand, offered an all-male delegation that seemed diffident if not outright stiff.

The biggest drawback for Idaho Falls was the lack of a paved road to the desert. To minimize this, attorney Bill Holden persuaded Mayor Tom Sutton to put road construction crews to work at the west end of Broadway, to give the appearance that road construction was already underway.

And, as we all know more than 60 years later, it worked. The AEC put its headquarters in Idaho Falls, pop. 19,000, and the city went on to become what it is today. Could anyone get away with this kind of stuff today? Probably not. Those were simpler times, and sure fun to read about.

Advertising Federation Holiday Mixer this Thursday

Are you thinking about your marketing budget? You might want consider the silent auction at the Idaho Falls Advertising Federation's annual Holiday Mixer and Auction, this Thursday at the Elks Lodge, 640 East Elva Ave.

Here's a partial list of all the items that will be up for bid starting at 6:30 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Advertising Federation, so you'll be doing them a service while quite possibly getting a great deal for yourself or your business.

• Melaleuca, gift basket containing a fun assortment of Sei Bella cosmetics, skin care and hair care products, $150 value.
• Melaleuca, Sei Bella Luxury Creme (competes against and outperforms US La Prarie® Skin Caviar Luxe Cream at $410), $300 value.
• Bank of Commerce, gift basket, $75 value.
• East Idaho State Fair, mystery concert package, pair of tickets to both concerts in 2014, value $90 per pair.
• IE Productions, foursome of golf at Huntsman Springs in Driggs.  Value $1,000.
• Thrifty Nickel, two half pages with full color, value $595 each.
• Thrifty Nickel, one 3x5 ad for 4 consecutive weeks with full color, $720 value.
• Rich Broadcasting, advertising package for $500 with festive holiday basket.
• Pacific Empire, $500 Q1 package including both stations KSEI and KMGI.
• Cable One & Jewelry TV, massive ring, $899 value.
• Cable One, $500 advertising package, $500 value.
• Headrick, 3 Month 8' x 24' billboard on St. Leon Rd, prod not incl, $1,200 value.
• Lamar, 2 month poster, prod not incl., $1,300 value.
• Alpha Graphics, $300 printing package
• Fairfield Inn, (2) 1 night Deluxe Spa Suite, $199 value ea.
• Johnny Carinos, $25 gift card.
• MCS Advertising, $500 advertising package on Cable One.
• Chukars seats book of 10 in the fancy paint, checking on value.
• Post Register, subscription gift basket, value $75.
• Buttercup Bakery & Bistro, lemon cheesecake with boozed blackberries, $40 value.
• Sandhill Media, (2) pair of Big Sky lift tickets, value $99/ ticket.
• Kraupp Inc., design of letterhead and business cards, $300 value.
• Kraupp Inc., Facebook strategy & refresh, $300 value.
• Kraupp Inc., PowerPoint presentation creation, $300 value.

Starbucks, Walgreen's plan new Idaho Falls stores

Looks like Idaho Falls has two new developments in the chute for 2014 already: a Walgreen's store on the northeast corner of West Broadway and Skyline, and a Starbuck's at 17th Street and Jennie Lee Drive.

Site plans for both projects were submitted in November to the city of Idaho Falls Planning and Building Departments. A site plan is the first step in any new development. People from different city departments examine the plans to make sure the details are in compliance with the city's codes and regulations. Once the plan is approved, a developer goes before the city planning and zoning commission, which makes a recommendation to the City Council. Once the City Council approves the plat, a building permit is issued and construction can begin.

The Walgreen's, which will be the fourth in the area, is going on 1.35 acres, where the shopping center housing Walker's, CoCo Beach, Karnation, etc. After demolition, the store that will be built is to be 14,490 square feet. Will it be different from the Walgreen's at 17th Street and Holmes Avenue, 17th and Ammon Road, First Street and Woodruff? I would be extremely surprised.

Starbuck's is planning a 2,852-square-foot shop on the corner where the vacant Los Albertos restaurant stands. The total area will be 22,753 square feet, with 19 parking stalls.

Power outages cost not only comfort, but big bucks

If you could hear over your chattering teeth, that was money that was going up the flue during Wednesday's power outage in eastern Idaho.

Outages caused by severe weather cost the U.S. economy an average of $18 billion to $33 billion a year, according to a White House report released last summer. The hits come from lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production and damage to the electric grid. In 2012, when 8.5 million people lost power due to Superstorm Sandy, those costs rose to as high as $52 billion.

The report argues for the need to update the nation's electric grid: high-voltage transmission lines connected to power plants, local distribution systems, and power management and control systems. Seventy percent of these transmission lines and power transformers are more than 25 years old.

"Developing a smarter, more resilient electric grid is one step that can be taken now to ensure the welfare of the millions of current and future Americans who depend on the grid for reliable power," the report said.

What happened Wednesday in eastern Idaho was caused by complications at Rocky Mountain Power's Goshen Substation near Firth. At 5:11 a.m., the utility was required to interrupt service to some 49,000 Idaho customers because a circuit breaker at the substation was out of service this week for critical maintenance. The cold that barreled in Tuesday night created conditions that could have caused an even larger and longer outage.

As a result, the Balancing Authority  -- which controls the electric grid that serves power providers in the area through the Goshen Substation -- ordered power interrupted until the system's stability could be assured. This was a precautionary measure. There was no overload condition.

Idaho Falls Power customers experienced scattered outages between 7:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. At the peak of the outage, around 9:45 a.m., the authority had instructed Idaho Falls Power to shed 35 megawatts, almost 30 percent of the electricity being used city-wide at the time. About 3,500 customers were affected, but it was necessary to keep the system from crashing when Rocky Mountain Power attempted to restore its service.