RICHLAND, Wash. — Energy Northwest announced a partnership last week to build up to a dozen small nuclear reactors in central Washington.

X-Energy Reactor Company and Energy Northwest have agreed to develop as many as 12 Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors at a site near Richland, which houses the only commercial nuclear energy facility in the region.

Energy Northwest expects the first reactor to be online by 2030, and the total project could generate up to 960 megawatts of carbon-free electricity.

“Energy Northwest’s mission is to provide the region with clean, reliable and affordable electricity, and X-energy’s innovative advanced reactor technology will be a valuable addition to our existing portfolio of carbon-free electric generating resources,” said Bob Schuetz, CEO of Energy Northwest. “As the Northwest region of the United States pursues a future clean energy grid, it is clear it will need new sources of dependable, carbon-free power. X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced reactor technology possesses many attributes ideally suited to a carbon-constrained electric system, and this agreement reflects our determination to deliver the technologies to meet growing clean energy needs.”

Each module could provide up to 80 megawatts of full-time electricity or 200 megawatts of high-temperature steam. 

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, one megawatt of energy capacity could produce enough electricity to equal the amount typically consumed by between 400-900 homes in a year.

The release also states that Energy Northwest and X-energy have "engaged extensively" in talks about building an XE-100 facility in central Washington since 2020.

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SEATTLE — Seattle City Council passed legislation Tuesday that aims to crack down on street racing by designating more city blocks as "restricted racing zones."

The measure passed the full council 8-1.

If designated a racing zone, a 2022 state law allows the Seattle Department of Transportation to install automated speed cameras. However, Tuesday's vote does not lay out how the cameras will be paid for or when they could be installed.

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These are the 10 streets around Seattle that will be designated as restricted racing zones:

• Alki Ave SW between 63rd Ave SW and Harbor Ave SW. 
• Harbor Ave SW between Alki Ave SW and SW Spokane St. 
• West Marginal Way SW between SW Spokane St and 2nd Ave SW. 
• Sand Point Way NE between 38th Ave NE and NE 95th St. 
• NE 65th St between Sand Point Way NE and Magnuson Park.
• Roadways inside Magnuson Park including, but not limited to, NE 65th St and Lake 
• Seaview Ave NW between Golden Gardens Park and 34th Ave NW.
• 3rd Ave NW between Leary Way NW and N 145th St.
• Martin Luther King Jr Way S between S Massachusetts St and S Henderson St. 
• Rainier Ave S from S Jackson St south to the city limits

Some neighbors in problem areas like Harbor Ave SW say the racing is constant. 

"This was NASCAR central," said West Seattle resident Steve Pumphrey. 

Hours before the Seattle City Council met Tuesday, at least two cars going high speeds could be seen along Harbor Ave around 5 a.m. 

The proposal passed unanimously out of the council's Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee last Tuesday.