Nuclear power plant a possibility for Butte County

Affordable energy and more jobs could be making their way to eastern Idaho.

Butte County will possibly have an independent nuclear power plant.

County Commission Chairman Seth Beal said he was open-minded when Twin Butte Enterprises LLC presented their plan for a new nuclear power plant.

“Nuclear energy isn’t something that were unaccustomed to put here with the INL site,” he said.

Robert Skinner, the company’s president, said this is something that has been in the works for a while.

“We’ve worked on this for three years,” he said, adding that the Twin Butte Enterprises weighed whether the endeavor would be feasible, doable and needed.

“It takes everybody together to make something work. (County officials) just showed they were willing to work with us,” said Reed Nord, a land specialist with the company.

But there are still quite a few questions and years of planning to do before breaking ground. There needs to be a buyer.

Click here for more on Twin Butte Enterprises’ proposal.