Richland council hears options to reserve funds for possible small modular reactor participation

At the Feb. 18, 2025 Richland City Council meeting, staff presented options for potentially participating in future small modular reactor (SMR) projects and asked whether the council wanted staff to return with additional information or to consider restricting funds for that purpose. No formal action was taken.

Clint Whitney, the staff presenter, said the discussion was exploratory: the city has not been asked to participate in an SMR project or with any private partner. Whitney gave a high-level estimate of a $4,000,000,000 plant cost and described a Department of Energy loan program that could cover about 80 percent of a project, leaving participants responsible for roughly 20 percent of the capital. Whitney estimated that participation would equate to about $2.5…