Youngkin reverses course on plans to build first SMR in Southwest Virginia [Video]

ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL) — For some time, Virginia leaders have touted Southwest Virginia as the prime location for the state’s first small modular nuclear reactors (SMR). On Thursday, Governor Glenn Youngkin told reporters that dream is no longer a reality.

“I do firmly believe that Virginia will still be the first state to actually operate a small modular reactor in a commercial fact, in a commercial fashion. If Southwest Virginia is the best place for that, then that’s what we’ll find out,” Youngkin told reporters. “But as of today, the site work in all of that has really been focused on spots other than in Southwest Virginia.”

But one local energy leader said he wasn’t surprised by the governor’s reversal, especially given that other parts of the state already have stronger nuclear infrastructure.

“It does make sense that as we go to the first (SMR), that it might be better to put it on a site that’s already approved, is already conducting nuclear …