This coming Tuesday, Jan. 21 Eagle Mountain city council and mayor will vote on whether to change the zoning code to allow nuclear reactors inside city limits, the RTI overlay zone within 2.2 miles of an elementary school and as close as 50 feet from the Firefly residential subdivision of new homes. (You can watch video here if you can't attend, but please come in-person if possible.) There are no limits on how many reactors can be built, no information on where the nuclear waste would be stored, no guarantee taxpayers won't subsidize the construction and operation, no stipulations on use of city water to cool nuclear waste, no rules about who pays for training of firefighters for emergencies, no mandated emergency evacuation zone, and by all signs, the energy will go straight to big tech companies' data centers in Eagle Mountain. Companies like Meta who already has a data center in this zone and has asked for proposals from companies to build nuclear reactors by its data centers. The waste would be stored here, in our city. Studies show increases in childhood cancer near nuclear power plants. The proposed SMR in Idaho was canceled due to rising costs which made nuclear energy unrealistic. No insurance will pay for losing a home to a nuclear-related leak or problem, and the federal government's program to compensate homeowners for nuclear accidents expires at the end of this year, risking total home loss of city residents. Utah is suing to remove federal oversight of nuclear reactors in its state, potentially further loosening safety measures. The only operating small modular nuclear reactors are in China and Russia, and both operate well below capacity at "lifetime load factors of just 34 and 22.4 percent." These reactors are not proven, are inefficient, costly, and produce concentrated radioactive waste. Changing the code will open us to small startups with no nuclear experience, further increasing safety risks. These kinds of reactors are better built by companies who already do nuclear, and at existing reactor sites, with the same safety requirements as existing reactors, not minus the enclosure and guard requirements as our federal government is moving towards. The dangerous handling of nuclear waste at the decommissioned San Onofre nuclear plant, and slack oversight of the federal government through the NRC, with resulting cancer in nearby citizens, shows we need to protect our city. The solution to energy needs can be solved regionally, perhaps following Delta, Utah's past example of joining with 23 municipalities to build a large power plant that gave them excess energy they've been selling to California! Now they're converting to a natural gas plant and eventually a hydrogen power plant. They even have room to build more such plants and skilled energy workers to staff them. That energy could be transmitted to the energy-hungry data centers in Eagle Mountain. Utah has many resources to produce energy, and most Utahns don't want nuclear. Let's not be the guinea pigs. This nuclear effort is clearly solely profit-driven to keep water-hungry data centers in our town, with no regard for the safety of citizens, children, schools, and homes, and already scarce water supply. Our city has wildfire, floods, and ongoing earthquake risk, making nuclear a dangerous option. Please sign up to comment on agenda item 12A during the meeting, even if you live outside our city. Your opinion matters! We can try to help our city leaders make the right decision for their constituents. For the environment. For America. Website for more info.