Texas Rep. Harris touts SMRs for data centers, produced water treatment in House hearing
In a House subcommittee hearing, Rep. Jake Ellzey questioned Texas state Rep. Trent Harris on federal-state partnerships for water and electric infrastructure. Harris advocated granting states like Texas primacy in regulatory matters, especially site selection for small modular reactors (SMRs), to accelerate permitting during a 'nuclear renaissance.' He described SMRs, particularly Natura Resources' molten salt design, as solutions for powering data centers, treating brackish groundwater, and desalinating the state's produced water from oil and gas operations. Harris noted Texas produces about 60 million barrels of produced water daily, most of which is reinjected, and highlighted the legislature-created Produced Water Consortium partnering with Natura. When asked about Congress's role, Harris suggested rolling back outdated federal regulations but otherwise letting Texas proceed independently. The session shifted to Rep. Ellis questioning Harris on end-of-life disposal challenges for wind turbines and solar panels, with Harris describing blades and panels as difficult to recycle, often left in fields or buried, and arguing they appear cheap only when full system costs are ignored.
Source: Forbes Breaking News
