The Donald Trump White House has drafted a memo to Congress, pushing for legislation to remove Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole site for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
The 1987 amendments of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act established Yucca Mountain as the sole repository for high-level waste. However, plans for Yucca were abandoned during the Barack Obama administration.
During his first term, Trump flirted with the idea of resurrecting Yucca Mountain, but ultimately decided not to force waste disposal at the Nevada site. The legislative proposal would open the door for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses to be designated spots for potential waste disposal.
DOE on Tuesday tentatively announced five states, Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah, as finalists to host an innovation campus. Of the five states, only three will be selected to have a nuclear hub, which will be finalized later in 2026.
In the memo viewed by Exchange Monitor, the White House wants Congress to authorize DOE to pick one or more Lifecycle Innovation Campuses in willing host states. It would also declare it the policy of the government “to encourage the recycling of used nuclear fuel,” codifying the policy in President Trump’s Executive Order 14302.
Several lawmakers have already discussed updating the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to clear the way for the proposed nuclear hubs. Officials sought revisions to remove Yucca as the designated repository site for high-level nuclear waste and to incorporate ways to implement fuel reprocessing.
The White House policy draft also seeks to redefine the categories that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would authorize allowing for different waste disposal options based on risk profiles. Currently, waste is either categorized as high- or low-level waste.
The memo lays out “legislative principles” for these proposed Congressional changes. The White House did not respond to the Monitor’s Monday inquiry for comment.
The proposed changes would also clarify the roles between the agencies in the authorization of the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus sites, with NRC being in charge of licensing waste disposal. DOE or NRC could authorize reactors and other fuel cycle facilities in certain cases.
The White House also wants authorization of interim storage to allow for nuclear reprocessing to occur. The administration also wants to establish the Office of Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation.
“The Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative imagines a new future for the nuclear industry and a broader vision for America,” the White House said in the memo. “With the establishment of a fully integrated fuel cycle, the United States will lead the twenty-first century in nuclear technologies securing our economic and energy future.”
Released as a solicitation in January, the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative is the Trump administration’s effort to gauge states’ interest in potentially hosting a waste disposal and other fuel facilities and nuclear projects. Over half of the states responded to DOE’s inquiry by its April deadline.