The Department of Energy (DOE) is exploring the possibility of storing nuclear waste in five different states, multiple outlets report.

According to The Hill, the DOE “signed memorandums of agreement with Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Idaho to explore possible nuclear waste storage in these states.”

The Hill explained further:

Earlier this year, the Trump administration indicated that it hopes to move forward quickly with new nuclear waste storage sites, saying it hopes to get “initial facilities online in the 2027 timeframe.”

“I’m pleased to announce that after reviewing 28 applications from 26 states, the Energy Department has selected five initial contenders to further explore building Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a written statement.

He described the effort as “crucial to unleashing America’s nuclear renaissance.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Nuclear energy has had a lot of bipartisan support in Washington as a climate-friendly power source. However, what to do with spent nuclear fuel has been a lingering challenge.

In 1987, Congress selected a site in Nevada known as Yucca Mountain as a potential storage site, but, locally, the project faced significant opposition.

The Trump administration has said it hopes to quadruple the nation’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

According to Newsweek, the Trump administration’s plan “would allow states to host Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses that include sites for nearly 100,000 metric tons of nuclear waste, uranium enrichment, fuel fabrication and the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel.”

According to the DOE, the campuses could bring in up to $50 billion in private investment, create 25,000 new jobs, and generate $10 billion in state and local tax revenue.

“These campuses will be massive generators of economic growth, create thousands of high-paying jobs, and be crucial to unleashing America’s nuclear renaissance. The innovative concept is a direct result of President Trump’s leadership and ambitious directives to restore the domestic nuclear fuel cycle and get America’s nuclear industry growing again,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, according to Newsweek.

Newsweek has more:

Utah Governor Spencer Cox wrote in a statement that the project would “drive affordable, abundant power across our country.”

“Through Operation Gigawatt, Utah is developing the entire nuclear lifecycle, from fuel production to advanced reactor deployment—strengthening our national security while helping secure America’s energy independence,” he wrote. “This campus will accelerate that work.”

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt wrote in a statement that he looks “forward to working with communities across our state to make this campus a reality,” touting the project as a “chance to add nuclear to our energy abundance agenda.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The plan is a “reflection of the difficulties that have gone into finding permanent storage” for nuclear waste, Mark James, director of the Institute for Energy and the Environment at the University of Vermont, told Newsweek.

There are still many details that will need to be worked out, noting that any changes may have to go through Congress, which previously designated Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only permanent storage location in the U.S.

“Finding willing partners at the state level who are interested in the economic development around storage, plus there are opportunities for reprocessing of waste, for new fuel rod generation,” he said. “Something needs to be done with waste issue to match up with the federal government’s attention and financial support that have been given to restarting old conventional shuttered reactors as well as supporting the growth of the small modular reactor and other reactor models.”

What are your thoughts?

NATIONAL POLL: Do You Still Support President Trump? vote now

TAP HERE TO ADD YOUR VOTE

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.