With one nuclear power plant already under construction, Wyoming will soon be home to high-level nuclear waste storage unless the federal government builds a centralized facility.
When TerraPower proposed building its first advanced, liquid sodium-cooled Natrium power plant outside Kemmerer, lawmakers quickly in the state鈥檚 otherwise blanket storage ban to allow spent nuclear fuel that comes from any in-state nuclear power plant.
But the conversation about nuclear waste storage in the Cowboy State is far from over.
The industry is gearing up for what advocates say is a , and some in Wyoming 鈥� including Gov. Mark Gordon, the Wyoming Energy Authority and Wyoming Business Council 鈥� are actively recruiting developers. TerraPower, backed by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, is considering more Natrium power plants in the state. Other players have considered setting up nuclear microreactor manufacturing facilities here, which could include storing spent fuel from portable units deployed around the world and returned to the state.
Building on those ambitions, state officials are eager to connect Wyoming鈥檚 reawakening uranium mining industry with the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 initiative. Though it is 鈥渘ot an expression of interest in nuclear waste storage,鈥� Wyoming 鈥渨elcomes the opportunity to partner with DOE, national laboratories and private industry to strengthen the domestic nuclear fuel cycle,鈥� the Energy Authority recently .
But do Wyoming communities want to crack the door open wider to the industry and, potentially, its radioactive waste?
鈥淭here鈥檚 all this risk, and we鈥檙e trying to make sure that those risks are minimized,鈥� Big Wind Carpenter, a member of the Northern Arapaho tribe, said, adding, 鈥淲hat is the benefit for the community? I think those are good discussions to start to happen.鈥�
Carpenter, who serves as tribal engagement coordinator for the Lander-based Wyoming Outdoor Council, took part in a this week hosted by the University of Wyoming鈥檚 School of Energy Resources, Ruckelshaus Institute and the Wyoming Energy Authority. A major focus was on how to educate and empower communities to engage with the industry, with federal officials and, ultimately, to decide whether or not they want the industry in their backyards.
That conversation happened very quickly in Kemmerer 鈥� from TerraPower to lawmakers a few months later in 2022. There鈥檚 been a series of legislative attempts since to further amend Wyoming鈥檚 ban on nuclear waste storage or do away with it completely 鈥� all have failed amid that has divided some communities.
Radiant Industries from Natrona County in November after a contentious year of trying and failing to get assurances that the state might further loosen its waste storage ban. The episode spurred Gordon to dub opponents 鈥� and the far-right Freedom Caucus, in particular 鈥� 鈥� ,鈥� describing 鈥渁 new culture of no matter who began or who commenced it, we鈥檙e against it.鈥�
Such high tensions are a sign of moving too quickly, said Jennifer Richter, who has studied why some communities have chosen to welcome nuclear waste storage and other aspects of the industry while many others have not. It鈥檚 a years-long process that cannot be rushed, Richter said, noting that the federal government has tried for more than 40 years to get buy-in from communities for a central U.S. nuclear waste repository, 鈥渁nd that has not gone particularly well.鈥�
Why can鈥檛 the U.S. get comfortable with nuclear waste storage, like Finland or Sweden?
鈥淚t鈥檚 because we have a much longer and more complicated history with nuclear,鈥� said Richter, an associate professor at Arizona State University鈥檚 School for the Future of Innovation in Society.
Lax regulations led to of soils and water throughout the American West that resulted in increased cancer rates 鈥� pollution and repercussions that remain unresolved in many cases, . The of uranium mining also built many ghost towns, adding to skepticism of the industry.
鈥淗ow to reckon with that history is actually what a lot of communities are asking,鈥� Richter said, 鈥渞ather than just going forward.鈥�
Technology, safety and trust in oversight
Every type of 鈥渁dvanced鈥� nuclear reactor technology being pursued today is not entirely new. It鈥檚 all been tried and tested 鈥� at least in a controlled research setting, said Christine King, director of the Idaho National Laboratory鈥檚 Gateway for Accelerated Innovation program.
鈥淲e鈥檝e tested over 52 experimental reactors over the years at INL,鈥� King said, adding that cooling systems such as liquid sodium and new fuel types such as tri-structural isotropic pellets, or TRISO, that encase enriched uranium are designed to add layers of safety.
But whatever the fate of spent nuclear fuel 鈥� whether it鈥檚 eventually processed for reuse, stored onsite or in a central repository 鈥� and whatever the nuclear power generation type proposed, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not up to anybody to tell you whether nuclear power or how much or how little is right for Wyoming,鈥� King said. 鈥淭hese are 100-year relationships you鈥檙e going to have with these projects.鈥�
Whether the federal government has the patience that most communities require is another question.
Confident in human health and safety technology advancements, the Trump administration has of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, primarily to speed up permitting. The 鈥渨holesale revision鈥� of regulations and permitting timelines is moving quickly, said Tison Campbell, a partner at industry market analysis company K&L Gates who previously worked for more than 19 years at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 in process right now,鈥� Campbell said. 鈥淥nly a few of those (changes) have been issued. Seventeen or 18 more are going to come out in the next few weeks for a 30-day comment period each.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e planning to finalize everything by the end of November,鈥� Campbell said, 鈥渟o there could be a new regulatory regime in place.鈥�
At the same time, Wyoming鈥檚 boom-and-bust uranium mining industry is on the upswing with previously idle operations coming back online and new mining projects in the works. For its part, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality says it is equipped with the staff and institutional knowledge to usher the mining industry鈥檚 expansion.
In fact, both the Department of Environmental Quality and its permittees go above and beyond federal standards, including Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulation of milling facilities that distill raw uranium ore to uranium oxide, or 鈥測ellowcake,鈥� Wyoming鈥檚 Land Quality Administrator Brandi O鈥橞rien said. The Department of Environmental Quality assumed primacy of that federal oversight in 2018.
A Converse County resident, however, quizzed O鈥橞rien about a wastewater pond at the Smith Ranch-Highland uranium facility that is allegedly not up to standards and leaking. Maria Katherman also alleged that the company, for years, has avoided fixing the problem despite state regulators being made aware of the problem.
O鈥橞rien acknowledged the problem, and noted 鈥渨e also did inherit sites that (were previously) licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Not that they did anything wrong, but it was a different regulatory requirement for the time they were licensed.鈥�
鈥淚f our industry is going to expand,鈥� Katherman said, 鈥渁nd you talk about, 鈥楬ow can we convince the public?鈥� Well, in Converse County, I鈥檓 the public, and no amount of regulations on paper are going to convince me.鈥�
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