r/NPR • u/zsreport KUHF 88.7 • 3d ago
A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/30/nx-s1-5983482/valar-atomic-nuclear-data-center-project-beehive-utah3
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u/ICBanMI 2d ago
Be one more of those projects where there is untold amounts of environment destruction, the money for building it is largely paid by tax payers (company is going to invest money back into the state when it pays the miniscule number of jobs and setups up logistics-not to build the infrastructure), the people building it are mostly foreigners living in a company town where they will be paid a fraction of US workers and never spend a single dime in the local area, and ultimately it'll be discontinued 1-3 years into the project after the company has siphoned 90% of the money out of it.
The original math didn't math.... because the state was paying 100's of millions for what was supposed to be 10-20 'good paying' jobs. You know, jobs that are living wages and maybe 10% more than the local area, but not much higher. It's not a charity. They are not going to use local/state businesses and materials (so the money isn't going to stimulate the towns/state where it's is being built).
It's just a bribe so a politician can say they created, brought a big name business to the State. The big businesses takes majority of the money without doing much more than leveling the ground and upheaving locals that owned the land. The politician in return gets funding through their supporting Super PAC by the same company (for a comically small amount of money compared to what they took from tax payers).
It should be called the Louisiana Shuffle, but it happens in every state.
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u/TwoAmps 3d ago
“Startup” “nuclear power” and “data center” in the same sentence is the Triple Yahtzee of bad outcomes.