The Legislature will consider the potential to store…

A door could soon open for Wyoming to become a nuclear waste storage site if a bill introduced by the Legislature this week is approved.

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Minerals, Business and Economic Development approved a bill Tuesday that would lay the groundwork for changing Wyoming laws to allow outside groups to use the state for temporary storage of high-level radioactive fuel waste. created by nuclear power plants.

The legislation passed 8-5 and advances to the 2025 legislative session as a committee-sponsored bill.

State law now allows spent nuclear fuel to be stored at advanced nuclear facilities in Wyoming, where it is produced, as long as those facilities meet federal requirements. There are no operating nuclear reactors in Wyoming, but in June, TerraPower began construction on a sodium reactor in Kemmerer.

Committee co-chairman State Rep. Don Burkhart, R-Rawlins, spoke in favor of the bill, arguing it will bring Wyoming in line with federal regulation.

Burkhart has supported transporting nuclear waste to Wyoming in the past, citing the economic benefits it could bring to the state.

Some members of the public spoke out against the bill, citing the environmental risks posed by transporting and storing nuclear waste, a product that can take up to 10,000 years to decompose.

There are new developments in the reuse of spent nuclear fuel and several bills are now moving through Congress that would allow for its reprocessing.

What does it do

The legislation does not approve temporary storage in Wyoming, but it does provide more clarity on how Wyoming could consider storing nuclear waste if it wanted, which technically could only be temporary.

Wyoming laws now conflict with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations on nuclear storage, but the proposed bill would bring the state in line with NRC rules and could save the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality time from duplicative work. . It also clarifies procedures for the legal storage of nuclear waste.

Removes Wyoming’s nuclear storage regulation from the Industrial Siting Act, a state law that addresses large industrial development.

The arguments

Lander resident Stephanie Kessler was one of the people against the proposed bill.

“With all due respect, the federal government can make mistakes,” she said. “Especially when it comes to nuclear waste.”

Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Thermopolis, mentioned how the NRC spends a significant amount of time considering the environmental impacts of each nuclear permit it approves. He believes that opposing all nuclear storage in Wyoming is “closeted” action.

“We need to keep an open mind and consider our options and really look to the future with these things,” he said.

The Texas legislature passed a law in 2021 prohibiting the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility and the issuance of permits for the facility located near the dense oil production of the Permian Basin. Despite this, the NRC still issued a permit for the facility.

The US Supreme Court recently announced that it will hear a case challenging the issuance of this license.

“This is a cautionary tale that the federal government will do whatever it wants to force the states,” Kessler said.

Former House Speaker and Senate President Eli Bebout disagreed, saying Wyoming has much more land available than Texas and that the project has merit because of the economic benefits storage could bring to the state.

“I think we are a very, very progressive state that looks at different opportunities and, my goodness, the opportunity that something like this can bring to our state, to our country, is overwhelming,” he said.

Speaking to Cowboy State Daily on Thursday, Bebout said concerns about the safety of nuclear waste storage are undeserved.

“The real problem is image,” Bebout said. “We should seek to be leaders in nuclear energy for the good of the state and the country.”

Gov. Mark Gordon has also expressed openness in the past to allowing a nuclear waste storage facility in Wyoming.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, was one of five committee members to vote against the legislation. While he supports most uses of nuclear energy, becoming a storage hub for used nuclear fuel in the United States is not Rothfuss’ idea of ​​diversifying Wyoming’s economy.

“I think this puts Wyoming in the awkward position of accepting everyone’s nuclear waste,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

Temporary?

The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada is the only site tentatively approved for permanent nuclear waste storage, although funding has been withdrawn from that project.

Wyoming Outdoor Council Executive Director Carl Fisher and others said during the committee meeting that the idea of ​​storing nuclear waste in Wyoming being only temporary is a misnomer, as there is no place to put spent nuclear fuel in permanent storage in America. .

“Why would Wyoming want to bear the burden and responsibility of transporting radioactive waste through countless Wyoming communities?” he questioned. “It feels a bit like a race to the bottom for something no one really wants.”

Long History

Dealing with high-level radioactive waste is not a new discussion in Wyoming.

Bebout mounted his own efforts to bring a spent nuclear fuel facility to Wyoming in the early 1990s, which would be located near the center of the state in Shoshoni.

After public pressure in 1992, Governor Mike Sullivan vetoed a measure that would have legalized the storage of nuclear waste in Wyoming.

Three years later, the Legislature changed laws to allow the storage of spent nuclear fuel waste from Wyoming’s nuclear plants, although it still prohibited the construction of a commercial high-level radioactive waste facility unless the federal government establishes a facility of permanent storage, which has yet to happen.

In 1998, a private company wanted to build a nuclear storage facility in Wyoming, but then-Governor Jim Geringer refused to allow a preliminary feasibility study, ending the proposal.

Blades on rods?

Fisher argued that storing nuclear waste in Wyoming will create a bad legacy for the Cowboy State. He believes the legislation reverses current policies that prevent acceptance of nuclear waste in Wyoming and is alarmed by developments he sees as making Wyoming more friendly to nuclear storage.

“If we don’t have a plan for what is one of the most harmful products on Earth, will it really be responsible for its generation?” he questioned.

This led Rep. Scott Heiner, R-Green River, to question whether the Outdoor Council is against nuclear energy as a whole. Fisher said no, but the group is concerned about the lack of viable permanent storage options for nuclear waste.

Heiner didn’t budge and asked Fisher how the Outdoor Council feels about the waste produced by retired wind turbines. Kessler said comparing slowly decaying nuclear rods to turbine blades is not a like-for-like comparison.

Cooper also criticized Fisher’s argument, saying the goal of the legislation is to clarify ambiguity in the law so that conversations about nuclear storage can occur better. He and Bebout see nuclear energy as an important part of Wyoming’s energy future, given the worldwide movement toward low-carbon energy in recent decades.

Fisher also believes there has been a lack of public engagement on the issue, as the bill only appeared about two weeks before Tuesday’s meeting.

“We just question why the rush into a single committee matter on a bill that has such far-reaching impacts for the state,” he said.

The legislation allows 30 days for public comment on any proposed storage projects. It also creates a fine of up to $10,000 per day per violation.

“It’s unique material that needs to be addressed appropriately,” Burkhart said.

The proposed bill would also amend the law to clarify that spent or irradiated nuclear fuel is not standard waste and should not be treated as such.

Likewise, it clarifies that “high-level radioactive waste” does not include irradiated nuclear fuel. But according to the NRC, high-level radioactive waste includes both used and spent nuclear fuel.

Leo Wolfson can be achieved in [email protected].