If a nuclear project comes into a community and the residents are against it, then the project will likely fail.

That was one of the messages Rebecca Casper, mayor of Idaho Falls, Idaho, had for the public Thursday evening during an information meeting on nuclear energy at the Gillette College Tech Center.

John Kotek, senior vice president of policy and public affairs for the Nuclear Energy Institute, Alex Gebben, an energy economist with the University of Wyoming, and Todd Parfitt of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality also spoke and answered questions.

The community buy-in is vital to the long-term success of a nuclear project, Casper said.

“If the locals aren’t happy, nobody’s happy,” she said.

She said it’s important for communities to be invested in and understand the

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