The MIDA board voted unanimously Tuesday to work with California-based nuclear power startup General Matter on plans for 400 acres adjacent to the Utah National Guard training facility near Bluffdale.
The decision follows a June 17 agreement with Utah’s State Armory Board to lease the land to MIDA for the next 120 years.
MIDA is a state agency created to serve military members and veterans that is governed by appointed, not elected, officials.
According to MIDA Executive Director Paul Morris, the authority has set its sights on using the Camp Williams land for nuclear power.
“We’re very excited about the opportunity we have as MIDA to participate in what people know about, which is working hard to bring a variety of energy projects to Utah, specifically nuclear,” he said during the June 17 meeting. “As you all know, it’s a matter of national security; it’s important.”
He said General Matter is “looking seriously” at investing “well over a billion dollars plus” into nuclear energy in Utah.
General Matter has a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to enrich uranium.
Earlier this month, the startup – operating here as a subsidiary, Utah Energy – said it’s mainly focused on equipment manufacturing.
But at Tuesday’s MIDA meeting, leaders indicated their agreement with the company includes determining what it would take to create an enrichment facility at Camp Williams.
Enrichment is key to making nuclear fuel – it basically concentrates uranium.
“They have to do a lot of regulatory sorts of things to see if they would do any kind of enrichment there, and/or the manufacturing of the equipment that does the enrichment – all of those things,” Morris said. “This helps them to say, okay, let’s go to the next step.”
Drew DeWalt, from General Matter, also spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, saying how excited he was to work with MIDA and the Utah National Guard.
“Obviously there’s a military mission,” he said. “But on the nuclear side of the house, we are working to restore U.S. leadership in the nuclear industry globally, and we think it could start here in Utah, potentially.”
Morris said the state and MIDA still need to finalize some terms of the lease agreement, including how tax dollars will be shared.
Board member Sen. Jerry Stevenson, a Republican from Layton, said last week he wanted MIDA to move forward on the project “as quickly as we possibly can.”
“I think we’re onto something really big here for the energy needs of not only Utah, but our nation,” he said.
Morris said MIDA will put out a request for proposals to create a buildable pad on the 400 acres, which also abut the Utah Data Center.
If MIDA and Utah Energy move forward with uranium enrichment at Camp Williams, it would be only the second such facility in the country. Currently, there is one in New Mexico.
The U.S. is increasingly looking to nuclear power to meet the needs of energy-hungry data centers.
And Utah is leaning into nuclear power development as part of its effort to become more energy independent. Last fall, KUER reported the state launched “Operation Gigawatt” in response to the growing demand to fuel artificial intelligence. The project’s goal is to double Utah’s power generation capacity, including nuclear and geothermal power.
Some Utahns have expressed qualms about the environmental impact of investing in nuclear energy. On Saturday, June 21, San Juan County residents protested after the Bureau of Land Management fast-tracked approval to reopen a uranium mine there, on orders from Pres. Donald Trump to accelerate environmental reviews.
KUER’s Pamela McCall contributed to this report.
