West Texas, UT System Pushing For First-Of-A-Kind Reactor In U.S.

ANDREWS, TX. (AP) – The small, remote West Texas town of Andrews grew out of an oil boom decades ago. Now, it wants to leap into the nuclear age.

It’s years from becoming reality, but town leaders are seeking a proposed, state-of-the-art nuclear reactor — not as a power source, but as part of an energy research complex that could lead to advances in hydrogen power.

The reactor would be the first built on U.S. soil in 30 years. The people behind the plan include the University of Texas System, several UT system schools, local governments and private industry. Together, they hope to build the nation’s first reactor of its kind in Andrews County, west of the city.

The county is already home to a low-level nuclear waste processing and storage site operated by a Dallas-based company. City manager Glen Hackler says the proposed facility is expected to cost about $500 million and be completed by 2012. He says it would bring scientists and researchers from around the world to Andrews.

Andrews is a town of about 10,000 residents situated about 30 miles from the New Mexico border. The boom that gave birth to the city during the late 1930s went bust in the 1980s when oil prices plummeted to about $8 a barrel. About 67 percent of the town’s residents surveyed either favored or strongly favored the project, with only 10 percent opposed or strongly opposed.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)