Powering data centers on nuclear? That’s a tough sell in Utah’s coal country.

Carbon County, Utah, once powered by coal mining, is now the site of two huge energy projects built to serve data centers. Valar Atomics, a nuclear startup, plans a complex of 456 small modular reactors (compact nuclear power units, a technology not yet used commercially in the U.S.) on federal and state land, alongside uranium fuel processing, water desalination, and steel manufacturing. A separate company, Altigen Energy, wants to build a 1,200-acre natural gas plant and data center campus called "Jurassic Spark" nearby, starting at 250 megawatts and potentially growing to 3 gigawatts — nearly the size of the whole state's current electricity use.

Local residents are split. County commissioners support the projects, citing badly needed tax revenue after the collapse of coal mining shifted more property taxes onto homeowners. But many residents worry about nuclear safety, given Utah's history with radioactive fallout from past weapons testing, and about the heat and water use these facilities could bring to an already water-strapped valley. Both companies say their cooling systems use little water, but some locals remain unconvinced, especially after learning that nondisclosure agreements have kept details of these deals from the public until late in the process.

For homeowners elsewhere, this is a preview of a trend: as AI data centers multiply, communities with cheap land and available power are being asked to host large nuclear or gas plants, often with limited public input until plans are far along. If a similar project is proposed near you, local county or utility meeting records are usually the best place to see what's been agreed to and what hasn't.