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.