RIVERTON—Wyoming PBS is kicking off the 16th season of its “Wyoming Chronicle” series with an episode featuring the groundbreaking of the nuclear power plant in Kemmerer.  The premiere is at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, on the main WY PBS channel.

“Wyoming Chronicle” is an innovative weekly program with newsmakers, artists and unique Wyoming personalities. This season’s lineup includes the University of Wyoming launching a Ph.D. in storytelling and the forgotten industry of the Piedmont Kilns.

“The mission of ‘Wyoming Chronicle’ is finding interesting Wyoming people, places and history, and I’m confident we’re filling the bill with our new schedule,” says show host and WY PBS Public Affairs Senior Producer, Steve Peck. “There is no shortage of engaging stories in our state. We’ll tell plenty of them this season.”

In June, TerraPower began construction in Kemmerer of its new-generation “Natrium” nuclear power plant, the first of its kind in the United States.

Funded prominently by billionaire businessman Bill Gates, TerraPower’s new Kemmerer Unit 1 power station promises significant improvements in cost, operations and safety over previous generations of nuclear power production.

Gates spoke at the groundbreaking ceremonies in Kemmerer, along with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, TerraPower officials and electric utility executives.

Peck interviews TerraPower President Chris Levesque and Kemmerer Unit 1 project manager Tara Neider for the show, which also features segments of the groundbreaking ceremony.

In the interview, Levesque said Kemmerer was chosen because it has long been an energy community as the site of the coal-fired Naughton Power Plant and the nearby mine that supplies fuel for the station.

“Wyoming has a high energy IQ,” Levesque says. “People know what energy projects are. They’re very energy literate. They know where the electrons come from when you plug something into the wall. And that’s not the case everywhere in the country.”

In addition to Friday’s broadcast, the episode is repeated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, and again at noon on Sunday. Following the premiere, the installment can be seen anytime on the Wyoming PBS website and the WY PBS YouTube channel.