Western in running for $2.4 million to implement Nuclear Technology Program

ROCK SPRINGS (WNE) — Outgoing Western Wyoming Community College President Kim Dale announced at the Tuesday, June 11, board meeting that Western is a contender for a $2.4 million grant to implement a Nuclear Technology Program.

The grant would come from Gov. Mark Gordon’s Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), which is a collaboration to align education and workforce development and support innovation, entrepreneurship, and research to help drive Wyoming’s economy. WIP helped fund Western’s Powerline Technology Program.

Dale said a press release about the award should be forthcoming from Gordon’s office, but she wanted to let the board trustees know about the award prior to her retirement.

The Nuclear Technology Program would be created to support TerraPower’s advanced nuclear power plant in Kemmerer. With two years of funding, Dale said she expects the implementation to take about two years.

Western is being considered because of the recent success and growth of the Powerline Technology Program. 

Dale said she has been working closely with TerraPower and credited the “awesome” work Western has done to support local industries.

“We do good things and put it to work,” she said. “We continue to provide quality workforce opportunities, to our students and to the state.”

This story was published on June 15, 2024.