The Department of Energy formally selected Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah as potential host states for its Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative.
Last week, Exchange Monitor reported that Utah, Oklahoma and Tennessee were among the top of the list of potential states to be selected for the program. According to DOE’s Tuesday press release, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with those three along with Idaho and Louisiana, continuing to look into opportunities to host one of the campuses.
The MOUs are not binding agreements as the states that choose to continue will sign “hosting agreements” with DOE later in 2026, according to the release.
Only three states will end up hosting an innovation campus.
Additionally, the Trump White House this week came out with a policy draft for legislation to remove Yucca Mountain as the sole repository in the United States, opening up the possibility of innovation campuses to have underground waste disposal facilities.
“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,” Wright said in the release. “These campuses will be massive generators of economic growth, create thousands of high-paying jobs, and be crucial to unleashing America’s nuclear renaissance.”
DOE released a solicitation for the innovation campuses in January and received responses from over half of the states by its April 1 deadline. The campus initiative serves as the Donald Trump administration’s attempt to gauge states’ interest in hosting a spent fuel disposal facility and other related facilities. Along with waste storage, campuses could also host uranium enrichment, conversion or nuclear projects.
The potential innovation campuses could draw up to $50 billion in capital investment and generate potentially $10 billion in state and local tax revenue, DOE said. It could also create nearly 25,000 jobs with a campus coming online, DOE added.
Nuclear consultant and former DOE official Lake Barrett told the Monitor in a Thursday emailed statement that he was pleased to see the Trump administration moving forward with plans to address the backend of the fuel cycle after many years of stagnation.
Barrett, one of the authors of a nuclear waste study earlier this year, said a lot of complex work lies ahead for DOE in navigating the next steps of this collaborative effort. But the innovation campus “is the best opportunity that we have had in decades,” he said in regard to figuring out domestic waste disposal, he added.
The Monitor previously reported that Idaho, Tennessee, Utah and Louisiana responded to DOE’s solicitation. Idaho, Tennessee and Utah’s applications were receptive to storing nuclear waste in some facets. Tennessee’s proposal took interest in the possibility of reprocessing, while Idaho considered reprocessing and potentially long-term storage for waste.
Utah, which already deals with low-level radioactive waste disposal, expressed interest in reprocessing and working with DOE to find a solution to long-term storage for waste.
“Utah anticipates collaborating with DOE on the final size and requirements of the long-term storage site,” the state Office of Energy Development said in its response to the solicitation.
Oklahoma, a state that does not operate a nuclear reactor, has taken up a new interest in nuclear power recently. The state government ordered for a nuclear feasibility study to be conducted last year and received back its findings in March. The study showed that the state is capable of developing nuclear energy, but it would be a costly alternative compared to natural gas and other renewables.
Oklahoma reportedly expressed interest in permanently storing nuclear waste in its state in its DOE proposal, according to a Thursday article by The Oklahoman. Despite having no nuclear reactors, Barrett said the selection of Oklahoma makes sense because it has a strong energy market.
Several companies, including Deep Isolation, Oklo and Standard Nuclear, applauded these state selections. The companies expressed interest in partnering with the finalist states to help advance nuclear projects at the innovation campuses.
“Communities and states considering a role in the future nuclear fuel cycle should have confidence that the backend can be addressed safely and responsibly,” Deep Isolation CEO Rod Baltzer said in a company press release. “Deep Isolation looks forward to supporting all interested states as they create economic opportunity, strengthen national energy security and ensure that nuclear waste is managed safely for generations to come.”
Washington, D.C.-based Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) voiced support for how DOE was selecting the contenders for the innovation campuses, saying that DOE took a “voluntary, collaborative approach.” ECA urges DOE to continue to work closely with its selected states to identify potential pros and cons of the hubs and where they can align.
While many have applauded the selections, a Utah-based environmental group had reservations about the choice of Utah. Healthy Environmental Alliance of Utah – or HEAL Utah said in a Wednesday press statement that it, along with other advocates, had “deep concerns” with Utah’s proposal to store spent nuclear fuel.
HEAL Utah attributed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent rulemakings, particularly with low-level waste disposal, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and radiation standards, has made the group skeptical of the long-term effects on Utah’s public health.
“For decades, Utah has shouldered a disproportionate burden of the nation’s radioactive legacy, from uranium mining and milling to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing and commercial radioactive waste disposal,” the group said. “HEAL Utah warns that this latest announcement continues a troubling pattern of asking Utah communities to bear the risks of an industry that primarily benefits private corporations.”