POCATELLO — Idaho State University and Idaho Falls-based NuCube Energy announced the site for their new Advanced Research and Test Reactor on ISU's campus Wednesday.

In April, the Department of Energy selected Idaho State University for its Nuclear Reactor Innovation Center, or NRIC, Launch Pad USA program. Through the partnership with NuCube Energy Inc., the university plans to design and commission the reactor — a functional microreactor — at ISU's Business and Research Park.

"This is not only the project, not only building a reactor," NuCube CEO Cristian Rabiti said. "It is building a partnership of innovation."

NuCube is an advanced nuclear technology company based in Idaho Falls that develops factory-built microreactors designed to provide carbon-free electricity and high-temperature industrial heat.

The project will serve as a hub for student learning, applied research and reactor operations. As home to the only ABET-accredited nuclear engineering undergraduate program in the state, ISU is well-positioned to offer education and research opportunities that could help transform the energy landscape.

Idaho State University has operated a research reactor on campus since 1965 and is one of only 24 universities in the United States with a nuclear reactor — a track record that played a key role in ISU's selection for the new reactor partnership.

"Our contract for Idaho means that we are Idaho's nuclear university, and we are committed to powering Idaho's energy future," ISU President Robert Wagner said. "ISU is committed with our contract to partner rather than compete. When we partner, we all win."

Wagner said the project demonstrates ISU's commitment to the promises made in the university's Contract for Idaho — to power Idaho's energy future, train Idaho's workforce, leverage partnerships and strengthen Idaho's economy.

"For ISU, this partnership is more than a demonstration of our commitment to education," he said. "As we celebrate our 125-year anniversary, we can look back and see the broad impact this institution has had on our communities and the state of Idaho."

Idaho Gov. Brad Little joined the festivities, making a stop in Pocatello to speak with the Chamber of Commerce at the Alumni Center before addressing ISU's new project.

"Idaho — I often say this is not a great place to sell energy, because we've got the cheapest energy in the United States — but it's a great place to build it," Little said. "We're going to build the energy, we're going to build the components, we're going to build the technology, and more importantly, we're going to build the great minds and the skill set needed to deploy all over this country as the nuclear renaissance goes forward."

To maximize research flexibility, the reactor will provide direct access to heat rather than include a power conversion system for electricity production. The surrounding facility is designed to support experiments, testing, student training and technology development.

Keeping the project close to home mattered to Rabiti as much as the partnership itself.

"It's only 50 miles south from where I live," Rabiti said. "It's nice to have the possibility to build our first reactor close by home."

For Jake Rymer, technical program manager for the National Reactor Innovation Center Launch Pad USA, the project carries personal weight. A 29-year-old Pocatello native and ISU alum, Rymer said he's proud to see the reactor coming to his hometown.

"This is the town I grew up in, the campus I studied on, and this is where I want to see a reactor put in the ground," Rymer said. "I'm proud to have grown up here, and I'm proud to have studied here, and I'm genuinely excited to get this project going."

NuCube is already building on that partnership by employing ISU students. Sam Jeffries, an ISU graduate student and full-time engineer who spent more than a decade in the field before returning to school, now works as the lab manager and test engineer at NuCube.

"While balancing a full load of graduate classes with a full-time engineering position can definitely be demanding, it gives me the opportunity to immediately apply what I'm learning at ISU to the work I do at NuCube every day," Jeffries said.

The project carries high hopes for ISU, NuCube and the state of Idaho.

"You've got a rich history here at Idaho State — 60-plus years operating a reactor, one of only a handful still operating around the country," said Todd Combs, deputy director for Idaho National Laboratory. "Generations of students have earned their operator licenses on this reactor, and hundreds of students will earn their operator licenses on the new reactor that NuCube and ISU will build."