Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
    Based on transmission infrastructure already under discussion, one possible benefit for North Dakota could be power delivered from the Canadian SMRs. Canada is considering plans for two hundred kilovolt transmission lines extending from Wheelock and Tande-Neset areas into Canada.
      Basin Electric Power Cooperative will be the transmission owner lines according to Basin spokesperson Andrew Buntrock. This project is part of a seven hundred million dollars allocated for line improvements planned for the state. This particular part of the project is slated to “improve power transferability” between the two countries.
      SaskPower has not discussed its nuclear power plans with the cooperative. The transmission development has no relation to that project. Basin Electric’s communication manager Lindsey Chumley told a reporter.
     Scott McGregor is a media relations representative of SaskPower. He said, “We’ve identified that the proximity to the U.S. border will require some consideration, though to date, we have not had any direct communications with representatives in North Dakota or in other American jurisdictions regarding our (small modular reactor) development project.” McGregor added that the planned transmission line could enable the potential export of power generated from an SMR. However, the scope of import and export arrangement has not been finalized yet.
     Plans for SMR power projects are not just being considered north of the U.S.-Canadian border.
     In January, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified designs on the first SMR in the U.S. This is a fifty-megawatt unit built by Oregon-based NuScale Power that will be near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
     Another project in the works is the Bill Gates-backed TerraPower SMR that will replace the Naughton coal plant new Kemmerer, Wyoming. Nearly two billion dollars has been provided by the U.S. Congress for that project.
     Other SMRs being planned include potential sites in Ohio, Texas and Washington state. In North Dakota there are no such plans. However, recently passed House Resolution 3034 directed the ND legislature to consider studying the feasibility of advanced nuclear energy development and transmission in the state.
     This legislation was passed on May 25th by the seventeen-member Legislative Management body. It will be on the agenda of members of an Energy Development and Transmission Committee in the next two years. Cory Mock, D-Grand Forks, sponsored the study bill. He said, “This study is a vital first step to future-proof our energy industry.”
     Mock said it is important to consider nuclear power as coal-fired power plants age and reach the end of their life cycle. This is especially true considering the average age of coal power plants in the state is over forty-five years.
     Shock said that SMRs discussion have come up over the years at PSC. However, concerns have been raised. ND would like to have a cost-effective, developed technology ready to deploy instead of creating something new. Another aspect is long term storage of spent nuclear fuel. This has been a costly regulatory problem for other nuclear power providers. That being said, nuclear power will likely need to be on the table in the coming years.
     Shock mentioned that renewable energy resources, natural gas and battery storage can’t fully ensure grid reliability. He added “There’s really no future reliable energy that can happen without that piece of the puzzle.”