Proposal to build uranium processing plant at Camp Williams announced
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- Smoke emits from a M109A6 Paladin, a self-propelled howitzer, just after it fired during a live-fire artillery exercise held Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, at the artillery range of Camp Williams State Military Reservation, located north of Eagle Mountain.
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- Joel Ferry, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, answers a question during a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 12, 2025, where a proposed uranium processing plant at Camp Williams was announced.
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- Drew DeWalt of Utah Energy answers a question during a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 12, 2025, where a proposed uranium processing plant at Camp Williams was announced.
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- Maj. Gen. Daniel Boyack, 21st adjutant general for the state of Utah, answers a question during a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 12, 2025, where a proposed uranium processing plant at Camp Williams was announced.
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- Emy Faulkner Lesofski, director of the Office of Energy Development, answers a question during a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 12, 2025, where a proposed uranium processing plant at Camp Williams was announced.
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- Ariana Farber, deputy director of the Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, answers a question during a press conference at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 12, 2025, where a proposed uranium processing plant at Camp Williams was announced.
The demand for energy in the modern world is already voracious and continues to grow.
One of the elements of addressing the need is nuclear power — but it needs fuel.
According to Joel Ferry, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, there aren’t many places in the United States that process uranium for reactors.
Camp Williams, at the edge of Utah Valley in Bluffdale, could play a big role in changing that.
Ferry was joined by government, military and private representatives at a press conference at the Utah State Capitol on Thursday to announce a proposed uranium processing facility at Camp Williams.
“As we grow, as we develop, as we change our lifestyles, we need more energy,” Ferry told the Daily Herald. “We need baseload energy that is long-term, sustainable, clean and there when you need it. Nuclear energy is the answer.”
While he said there are currently 96 nuclear power plants in the United States, much of the fuel processing comes from overseas. He sees Utah having the opportunity to lead the way to increase the nation’s energy independence.
Ferry explained that the proposed plant would focus on low-enriched uranium, something that only a British-owned plant in New Mexico currently does.
And Camp Williams might be the best place for a new facility.
“You have close proximity to some incredible universities that have done great work in the nuclear space,” Ferry said. “You’ve got the University of Utah, BYU, Utah State, all in close proximity there. There is also a military mission because the military does a lot of nuclear-based work. And you have close proximity to a great workforce.”
This is just the beginning of a process that could take three to five years, but it starts with lease signings in the next week that will allow Camp Williams land to be used for the purpose.
“The revenues that are received, so the rents and the taxes that will be paid, are going to go back in to directly benefit the National Guard,” Ferry said. “Then we are going to be able to develop out large projects, not just on Camp Williams but throughout the state of Utah. The land is available for military purposes. The National Guard was willing and interested in assisting and helping to put this together and let this happen.”
The press conference highlighted the joint efforts of the Utah National Guard and the Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, which works to facilitate these types of partnerships, as well as the Office of Energy Development for the state of Utah and Utah Energy, which would build the processing facility.
An exact location is still being determined, but Maj. Gen. Daniel Boyack, 21st adjutant general for the state of Utah, said the camp will adjust as needed.
“When they figure out the site, I’m sure there would need to be some preparation of the land,” Boyack said. “We would then make sure to reconfigure Camp Williams in a way that it would disrupt the training so it will continue to provide prepared soldiers for America.”
Drew DeWalt of Utah Energy answered many of the questions about the proposed plant, including explaining its method and addressing concerns.
“We are in the middle of the supply chain,” DeWalt said. “We would accept the uranium, process it and then send the uranium out.”
Nuclear power is still haunted by the stigma of disasters and Hollywood portrayals, but both DeWalt and Ferry emphasized that not only does the industry have some of the best safety ratings in the energy sector, but this particular processing facility will be a closed system.
“If you look at what makes any industrial process risky, it’s things like continuously running, high pressure, adding and subtracting chemicals, processing water,” DeWalt said. “We don’t have any of those.”
Ferry said he believes we are to a point where we can move past the old fears surrounding nuclear power.
“The fear is a real concern but we have to realize that this is not the 1960s or ’70s,” Ferry said. “What we are doing today is different than what we did. There are 96 active nuclear reactors in the United States today and 20% of the power in the U.S. is derived from nuclear today. What we’re looking at is the next generation of advances, which makes it more safe. The technologies that we have are much more adaptive and reactive. If there is a problem, we catch it and fix it. You just can’t overemphasize how important and how safe nuclear power is going forward.”
While the proposal marks just the first step in a long process, DeWalt said that part of the plan includes reaching out to communities near Camp Williams to help them better understand the facility and the potential benefits.
“There will be concerns, but we want to focus on the facts and also talk about the potential benefits,” DeWalt said. “There is opportunity not just for the National Guard but for Utah and the United States. In a decade’s time, this is a facility that I think gives the community a chance to be the seat of advanced nuclear business throughout the world. We’ll need the community to take on both the opportunity and challenge of doing that, because it won’t be easy.”
