Green Energy

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Turning abandoned open-pit mines into solar farms could resolve growing land-use tensions and unlock vast, underused infrastructure for renewable energy deployment.

A draft bill that would make an exception to Wyoming's nuclear waste ban is intended to accommodate a California firm's plans to "mass-produce" microreactors near Casper.

Lawmakers will consider draft legislation this week that would allow manufacturers of “advanced nuclear reactors” to store high-level radioactive waste at their Wyoming facilities.

The company notes the location is “actually over a mile away from any home,” and meets the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s distance requirements.

lawmakers managed to carve out an exception in 2022: “Temporary” storage is allowed, but only if the radioactive waste is associated with a nuclear power plant operating in the state.

Although Radiant may sell the microreactor units, it also plans to lease them, according to the company. When the units need refueling, the mobile reactors will be shipped back to Radiant’s Wyoming facility — from all over the world — and the spent fuel will be stored at the Bar Nunn campus, where it will remain until there’s a permanent federal repository to send it.

The Grain Belt Express is over a decade in the making and would bring huge amounts of cheap wind and solar from the plains to the East. Its future is now murky.

Reporting Highlights

• Under Surveillance: Law enforcement agencies have collaborated with private security to surveil largely peaceful protesters opposed to a Nevada mining project called Thacker Pass.
• Terrorism Task Force: An FBI-led joint terrorism task force has at times focused on the protests, according to internal law enforcement communications.
• Tribal Land: Indigenous people protesting the mine say they have been unfairly singled out by authorities for trying to protect their lands.

An Indigenous-led nonprofit group is bringing solar power to Navajo Nation and the Hopi tribe, where about 15,000 households lack access to electricity.

If you want to buy an electric vehicle—or solar panels or a heat pump or home battery—there’s a short window of time to make use of the existing federal tax credits currently available. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the tax credits were supposed to last 10 years. Now, thanks to the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill, there are only about 10 weeks left to claim the EV tax credits before they disappear. Other clean energy tax credits will expire at the end of the year. Here’s what you need to know if you want to make use of them to help cut emissions and save on your energy bills.