Ambient office = 71 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 73 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 73 nanosieverts per hour

Green onion from Central Market = 133 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 112 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Gold potato from Central Market = 119 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

English cucumber from Central Market = 143 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 83 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 108 nanosieverts per hour

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.”

Ambient office = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 86 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 85 nanosieverts per hour

Cherry tomato from Central Market = 56 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 81 nanosieverts per hour

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     SaskPower, a Canadian utility company, is considering siting a new small modular reactor (SMR) near the North Dakota border. The site is across the border from Noonan, North Dakota, in Divide County in the state’s far northwest corner. Local state officials and local landowners were surprised by the news of SaskPower’s intentions. However, they would welcome the power provided by the new SMR.
     Jody Gunlock operates a ranch near the border and also serves as Divide County’s emergency manager. She said, “It’s a very positive development.” She is eager to hear more about SaskPower’s plans. She is also interested in the possibility of North Dakota planning its own SMRs.
     Sheri Haugen-Hoffart is one of three commissioners serving on the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC). She said that North Dakota News Cooperative’s query was the first she’d heard of the project. Governor Doug Burgum’s office indicated that the Department of Commerce had communicated with SaskPower and others regarding SMRs at a recent energy conference in Atlanta.
     Victor Schock is the director of public utilities at the PSC. He said that he was prompted to research the project after the inquiry for this story and said that SaskPower had not reached out to state authorities about the plans. He added, “Not that they would necessarily need to since they’re really outside our jurisdiction, but that wouldn’t necessarily prevent us from intervening in a proceeding they may have up there either,” Schock said. “If we’re concerned about safety on our side of the border, it would be potentially worthwhile to intervene and raise some concerns.”
     SaskPower is narrowing down potential sites for a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR. One possible location is the Estevan region and the other near Elbow, which is about an hour northwest of Regina. Site selection should be completed by the end of 2024. Licensing should be finished by 2029 according to an online presentation by Darcy Holderness of SaskPower. An operational reactor would not be available until the mid-2030s, according to Darcy. The site selected could possibly host at least one additional SMR after the additional reactor after the initial project is approved.
     Gunlock spent time at the Defense Nuclear Weapons School in New Mexico and led the 55th Civil Support (WMD) response team at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during his time in the U.S. Army. He is familiar with both the potential opportunities and dangers of nuclear materials.
    
     Gunlock said, “If you want clean, carbon-free energy and want reliable energy that’s there all the time, you’ve got to go nuke.” He added that this is a better alternative to the intermittency of wind and solar because they reduce availability. They also take up much more space than an SMR. “If it was up to me and they came and asked if they could put a nuke on my property, I’d say yes, build that.”
     Isaac Jacobs is the country commissioner in Divide. His brother, Morgan, owns a farm right next door to the Noonan Port of Entry. Isaac had already heard of the project from Canadian radio broadcast. He shared thoughts similar to Gunlock’s. He says that nuclear is the cleanest, most efficient and most readily available source of energy. He said, “It’s been around for a long time,” he said. “So why aren’t we using it?”
     Morgan said that he “wouldn’t be opposed to nuclear if it benefited the local community in some way” but that if “all we could get is the risk of something going wrong, I’d be opposed to such a project.”
Please read Part 2 next