Monroe County Officials Consider Ban on Small Nuclear Reactors Despite Low Water Use

Monroe County officials are contemplating a ban on small nuclear reactors due to perceived excessive water usage. However, current reactor designs, including those from BWXT and OKLO, utilize alternative coolants.

BWXT manufactures helium-cooled high temperature gas reactors (HTGR) for U.S. Navy vessels, while OKLO is developing a variant of the EBR-1 reactor, which uses liquid sodium as a coolant. Additionally, China is constructing a prototype data center powered by a molten salt reactor (MSR) from the U.S., demonstrating that these reactors do not rely on external water sources. Monroe County officials are advised to reconsider the ban as these modular reactors do not pose a water usage concern.