PHOTOS: Visits to Kemmerer
The Star-Tribune has made multiple trips to Kemmerer as the town prepares to become home to a nuclear power plant. Here are images from those visits.Â
Kemmerer
Dawn breaks over the town of Kemmerer in January. The town, which has long been reliant on coal, was recently chosen as the site of a next-generation nuclear reactor.
Kemmerer
An empty building in the downtown triangle of Kemmerer is seen on Nov. 1. A planned nuclear reactor is expected to bring new economic life to the town.
Kemmerer
Diamondville and Kemmerer seen on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Kemmerer Fossils
Bill Thek, the mayor of Kemmerer, seen on Monday, July 18, 2022, at Kemmerers City Hal.
Kemmerer Fossils
Robert Bowen outlines a fossil in the rock with a pencil for later cutting out during a night dig on Monday, July 18, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
Tony Bellos, an independent contractor, show's off his tattoo while preparing for a night dig on Monday, July 18, 2022, in Kemmerer.Â
Kemmerer
Seniors from Kemmerer, Evanston and Bridger Valley participate in a monthly Tri-City Pool tournament in January at the senior center in Kemmerer. Town residents are less confident about the proposed nuclear plant than their leaders.
Kemmerer
The original J.C. Penney store operates on Nov. 1 in the triangle of downtown Kemmerer. The town is set to become home to an advanced nuclear power reactor. Â
Kemmerer
A map of Kemmerer sits displayed in the town hall on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer
The tracks running through Kemmerer are often bustling with trains hauling coal and goods. The town's power plant is nearing retirement, putting its adjacent coal mine into jeopardy.
Kemmerer
Historic photos from Kemmerer's coal heyday hang on the walls of the town's senior center. The town's coal industry may be nearing its end.Â
Kemmerer Fossils
Tony Bellos, an independent contractor; Tony Lindgren, the leaseholder for that quarry; and Robert Bowen, owner of Wyoming Fossils in Kemmerer walk out onto one of their pads of rock, which contains hundreds of different fossil fish, fauna and insects on July 18 in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
Alex Mitchell, Jackson Dunnavant and Jaysen Dunnavant work together to crack open a rock and hopefully find fossils at the American Fossil Quarry on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
A view of the ranches below fossil quarries in what used to be prehistoric lake on Monday, July 18, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer
A train passes through Kemmerer on Nov. 1. The coal industry has long been a source of jobs for the community, with a nearby mine providing fuel for a power plant next door.Â
Kemmerer
Sunlight reflects off a home in Kemmerer on Nov. 1. A planned nuclear power plant is expected to increase the town's population considerably, especially during the lengthy construction phase.
Kemmerer
Steam rises from Naughton Power Plant outside Kemmerer earlier this month. While Naughton was chosen as the site of a first-of-its-kind nuclear reactor, national interest in repurposing other plants for reactors is growing.
Kemmerer
A deer family watches freight trains pass by on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
One of Michael Snively's work spaces in the basement of Ulrich's Fossil Gallery on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
Robert Bowen's, owner of Wyoming Fossils in Kemmerer, trailer where he stays while fossil hunting sits overlooking the ranches below in what used to be a prehistoric lake on Monday, July 18, 2022, in Kemmerer.
Kemmerer Fossils
Robert Bowen shows off a fossil he recently found near Kemmerer.
Kemmerer
The University of Wyoming will dispatch a team of researchers to Kemmerer and Diamondville this month to document residents’ lived experiences. In November, engineering company TerraPower announced it would build a new sodium-cooled nuclear reactor at the Naughton Power Plant outside of Kemmerer.
Kemmerer is receiving overwhelming interest since it landed a nuclear plant last year. It's doing all it can to patch the holes in its infrastructure in time.
The prospect of a couple extra years before the reactor starts up might bring relief to a community scrambling, with limited resources, to prepare for thousands of new residents.
Advocates and skeptics of nuclear energy outlined conflicting visions of its future during separate webinars Jan. 19 and Jan. 23.