A proposed nuclear plant in Utah has withstood a significant legal challenge as a judge upheld the validity of water rights for the project.
As it pursues two new reactors in Emery County, Blue Castle Holdings obtained Green River water rights originally set aside for an unbuilt coal plant. On Tuesday, BCH announced a Utah state court sided with the company following a challenge to the transfer by an environmental group that questioned the financial resources and power demand for the project.
“Without a source of water you don’t have a project,” BCH CEO Aaron Tilton said in a release. “The original approval by the state water engineer has now stood the test of an appeal where the relevant evidence was weighed. The ruling is a major de-risking milestone for the Blue Castle Project. It provides future utility participants greater certainty that the major asset, water for the deployment of a new nuclear plant, has been secured economically.”