Your editorial on Gov. Cox’s nuclear plans isn’t cautious. It’s cowardly.
You sneer at a 25-year-old founder. Not because he’s failed, but because he’s not part of the old guard that has. Never mind that Isaiah Taylor descends from nuclear pedigree: his great-grandfather, Ward Schaap, joined the Manhattan Project at 24. That’s the kind of legacy Utah should be proud to carry forward.
You claim Valar Atomics “has not yet built a campfire.” In reality, the company has already constructed a full-scale demonstration unit. In fact, it’s a 1:1 replica of what will be deployed in Utah now undergoing rigorous testing in Los Angeles. More importantly, Valar’s team includes some of the most experienced reactor engineers in the world, with over 90 years of combined experience on this architecture.
You dismiss next-generation nuclear without understanding the technology. You confuse regulatory stagnation with safety, and you treat federal permission as the price of local ambition.
Worse, you trot out every tired Utah flop, from Syncrete to cold fusion to COVID-era contracts, as if past misfires justify permanent paralysis.
Here’s a better takeaway: maybe it’s time we stopped letting editorial boards bully this state out of trying.
What Utah needs is power. Abundant, clean, always-on energy that can support AI, advanced manufacturing, and the industries of the future. That won’t come from environmental fantasies. It won’t come from bureaucratic delay. It will come from people who build.
Utah can lead. Or we can sit on the sidelines and watch while someone else does. Your editorial chose the latter. Utah deserves better.
Christopher Koopman, CEO of the Abundance Institute, Salt Lake City
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible