Umatilla County presents small modular reactor demonstration bill; Morrow County to consider a letter of support

Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorn briefed Morrow County commissioners on House Bill 2410, legislation his county introduced to create a process for a small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration project. Dorn said the bill is structured so a demonstration project would proceed only after local approval, including a county referendum where the host county’s voters would decide whether to proceed.

Dorn told the board SMRs generate less waste than traditional reactors, can be modular and scaled for local industrial or resilience uses, and are receiving increased attention from federal programs and the Biden administration. He said his county chose a demonstration bill to avoid state‑wide legal barriers in Oregon’s 1980 referendum statutes and to enable local decision‑making.

Commissioners asked questions about public outreach and local referendum steps. Dorn said Umatilla County expects to seek local approval and noted the site-selection work GAIN and federal partners had done identifying candidate locations, including legacy energy sites. He requested Morrow County consider lending its logo to a support packet; the commission asked Dorn to provide a proposed letter for the board to consider at the next meeting.

No formal support letter was sent at this meeting; commissioners asked staff to place a draft for consideration on a future agenda.