KENNEWICK — Richland is being asked to pay a small share of the $4 billion cost to develop a cluster of small modular nuclear reactors at Energy Northwest in exchange for the option to purchase some of the 320 megawatts they will generate.
The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to loan 80% of the total cost of the X-energy reactor project, which is slated for a site next to Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station, the commercial nuclear reactor 10 miles north of Richland.
But Energy Northwest and its partner, Amazon, have invited public power utilities and investor owned utilities, including Richland, to pay a pro-rata share of the remaining 20%, at $2.5 million per megawatt.
The utilities have a “first right of refusal” to the first four units and an option for up to 50% of the power that will be produced in the future when eight additional reactors are added.
Clint Whitney, director of Richland’s electric utility, was set to present the complicated request to the city council when it meets for its Tuesday night meeting, in the council chamber at Richland City Hall, 525 Swift Blvd.
No decision is expected.
The first four reactors are expected to begin generating power in 2032. The additional eight reactors could push the total to 960 megawatts a few years later.
In October, Amazon announced it would join with Energy Northwest to bring X-energy’s small modular reactor plans to fruition, citing its commitment to carbon-free energy.
The Seattle e-commerce and web services giant pledged $300 million to support engineering, licensing, planning, preliminary construction and equipment purchases. Separately, it invested in X-energy itself.
Amazon is willing to buy the power from the first four reactors in Washington. However, Energy Northwest partners have the first right to purchase power through cost-sharing agreements if they sign up to help pay the development cost.
The deadline to commit is May 1, 2026.
The city has several options. It can embrace the first phase, ignore it or it can consider supporting the second round of development, when the eight reactors could be brought on.
Richland council meetings can be viewed online.
Massive investment
The $4 billion price tag for four 80MW reactor is eye-watering. But it is in line with a growing list of nine-figure development projects that promise to reshape the Mid-Columbia as a hub for data centers, energy, manufacturing and other industries, all of which will require power..
The Tri-City Herald calculates that, if built, the projects would bring nearly $20 billion in new investment to an area that extends from Richland to Wallula Gap, east of Pasco. The figure excludes federal spending at the Hanford site and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Examples include the four projects proposed at the Port of Walla Walla’s Wallula Gap Industrial Park, about 10 miles east of Pasco.
The port has agreements with Advance Phase, the alias for a U.S. e-commerce and streaming giant that intends to build a $4.8 billion cluster of 16 data centers, with Project Energy Force, which is the code name for a $2.5 billion, battery manufacturing, with SkyNRG is a Seattle company that plans to construct a $1 billion sustainable aviation fuel plant and with Rockwool, which is preparing to build a $175 million plant to transform rock into environmentally friendly building insulation.
Richland has about $5 billion in potential development.
A company operating as Washington Energy LLC is considering it for a $3 billion nuclear fuel project. Framatome is considering a $360 million expansion of its Richland nuclear fuel plant. Atlas Agro is working to develop a $1.5 billion carbon-free fertilizer plant.
