Claims vs Record disc-048
claim holds upsite Valar told the state no young faults lie within the Carbon site: that holds on the state's fault map
What was said
- Valar, as relayed in the Trust Lands memo (2026-09-17): "No Quaternary-active faults exist within the site boundary"; nearest mapped features the Pleasant Valley fault zone (about 20 miles) and Price River area faults.09.17.2026 TLA Board Packet (Item 10A: SULA 2095-OBA Board of Trustees Memorandum, Carbon County letter, lease map) (Utah Trust Lands Administration (Utah Public Notice Website), 2026-09-17)
What the record shows
- Utah Geological Survey Quaternary fault layer, queried 29 September 2026 around the center of Section 16: no mapped fault within 22 km; the nearest are 'Price River Area faults' at about 23-24 km.
The gap: None: the applicant's statement matches the state's fault map. Its 'low-seismicity zone' description was not tested.
In plain termsValar told the state its Carbon County site has no geologically young faults running through it, and the Utah Geological Survey's map agrees: the nearest mapped faults are about 14 miles away. That is what the company claimed, and it checks out. A final judgment on earthquake risk would come from a site-specific study, which does not exist yet for a Carbon reactor.
Why it matters: Fairness: a site claim that checks out.
What would settle it: Settled against the state fault map; a site-specific seismic study would come with any license application.