Denver airport to explore nuclear energy as option to power growth
Denver International Airport, the country’s third-busiest airport, is exploring the possibility of building a small nuclear reactor on its campus to help meet growing demands for electricity and cut the use of carbon-emitting power.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Phil Washington, airport CEO, said Wednesday that DIA has put out a request for proposals for a study on the feasibility of building a small modular nuclear reactor onsite. The module reactors under development in the U.S. are significantly smaller in size than a conventional nuclear facility and produce a fraction of the power.
Washington said the airport is expected to see more than 120 million passengers by 2045. A record-breaking 82.3 million traveled through DIA in 2024, up 5.8% from 2023. He said during a news conference that the airport will need a sustainable power supply to meet the demands of airport assets, safety and customer experience goals.
“This is really a one-of-a-kind work that we’re doing,” Washington said. “We are creating and introducing a new application for small modular reactors in the aviation space, in the airport space.”
Johnston said if the study shows that small nuclear reactors are a feasible option, DIA could become “the greenest airport in the world.”
“We’d be the first airport with on-site, zero-emissions energy generation,” Johnston added.
There are 94 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S., but small modular reactors are not among them. A few of the smaller reactors are running in Russia and China, but they are still in the development phase in this country.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed two reactor designs by NuScale Power Corp. The Idaho National Laboratory is working with companies and the Department of Energy to test and demonstrate the technology.
However, it could be five to 10 years before small module reactors are up and running in the U.S., said Mark Jensen, a chemistry professor at the Colorado School of Mines and director of the nuclear science and engineering program.
NuScale’s project with a group of municipal power systems in Utah fell apart in 2023 when not enough subscribers signed up. The Deseret News reported that subscribers started dropping out after the permitting process dragged on and costs became uncertain.
Asked why DIA wouldn’t keep installing solar, wind and battery storage that are ready to go now, Johnston and Washington said the airport will keep expanding the use of renewable energy. Johnston said the city will continue to follow an “all-of-the-above, non-fossil-fuel energy strategy.”
The Denver airport, the sixth-busiest in the world, gets its electricity from Xcel Energy. About 30% of its electricity comes from solar energy. Washington said the airport has increased its electric vehicle fleet and is saving electricity, natural gas and water through energy efficiency measures.
Interest in small modular nuclear reactors has grown along with concerns about climate change and forecasts of escalating demands for electricity, driven in part by the spread of power-intensive data centers. More electric vehicles on the roads and electrification of buildings are also generating the push for more power on the grid.
Xcel, Colorado’s largest electric utility, said the demand on its system could grow at a compounded rate of 4% through 2031, compared with an average annual rate of 0.7% over the past five years.
The Colorado General Assembly passed a law this year that adds nuclear power to the list of clean energy resources. Utilities can use it to meet state clean energy goals.
An advisory committee of labor, business and civic leaders recommended that Xcel Energy consider building small reactors when it closes the Comanche coal plant in Pueblo by the end of 2030.
While reversing several of the Biden administration’s renewable energy incentives and programs, the Trump administration has directed the Department of Energy to use “all available legal authorities” to approve the design and construction of advanced nuclear reactor technology.
Washington said efforts to build a nuclear reactor at DIA could attract federal funds.
Part of the appeal of the small reactors is the potential to add modules as more power is needed. Jensen at the School of Mines said they often can fit on a railroad car or semitrailer.
“One of the key ideas is that these reactors could be built in a factory and transported to the site rather than a conventional reactor, which is pretty much built from the ground up at the site,” Jensen said.
The smaller size — roughly one-tenth to one quarter the size of a large facility — can enhance the reactor’s safety, Jensen said.
“A large reactor needs to be actively cooled to keep the core from melting down. It produces so much heat that even when it’s turned off, it’s still producing heat,” Jensen said.
With small reactors, the heat is expected to dissipate into the air when they’re shut down, although the technology is still being tested. Jensen said the smaller size should eventually also mean smaller price tags for nuclear reactors.
Charles Kutscher isn’t convinced that the high cost of nuclear power will change. The first nuclear reactors built from scratch in the U.S. in decades were completed seven years late and $17 billion over budget. The Vogtle plants by the Georgia Power Co. began operating in 2023.
Kutscher, who has a master’s degree in nuclear engineering and worked for several years in the solar industry, said nuclear reactors are expensive, take a long time to build and don’t fit into a grid that’s increasingly using renewable power.
“In 10 or 15 years, you’ll be trying to fit in a nuclear power plant on a grid that’s already running on solar and wind,” said Kutscher, a member of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society policy committee.
Johnston and Washington said nuclear power would provide the resiliency needed if solar and wind power needs to be backed up. Kutscher said gas turbines could be used in those cases and wouldn’t have to run 24 hours a day like a reactor would.
Washington said DIA recognizes that the technology of small reactors is new and there’s much to learn. The feasibility study, which will cost up to $1.25 million and will come out of airport revenue, will look to answer such questions as whether small nuclear reactors are a viable solution for DIA; what are the different types of the technology; what is the potential cost and financing options; and what are the risks.
One issue is the disposal of nuclear waste, which is stored where it’s produced because there is no national disposal site.
The study is expected to take six to 12 months to complete.
The Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant near Platteville ran for about 10 years. Xcel Energy closed the plant because of ongoing operational problems. The nuclear plant was decommissioned in 1989 and later converted to natural gas.
Updated Aug. 6, 2025, at 5:05 p.m. to add comments and details.
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Denver International Airport, the country’s third-busiest airport, is exploring the possibility of building a small nuclear reactor on its campus to help meet growing demands for electricity and cut the use of carbon-emitting power. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Phil Washington, airport CEO, said Wednesday that DIA has put out a request for proposals for…