By Nolan Mckendry | The Center Square
(The Center Square) — Louisiana’s bid to host a nuclear fuel and waste campus hinges on changes to federal nuclear waste law, state officials say.
Louisiana is one of five states competing to host a federally backed Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, an industrial complex that could manufacture nuclear fuel, recycle spent fuel from power plants and permanently dispose of the remaining radioactive waste.
The proposal faces significant legal obstacles, including longstanding state and federal laws restricting the transportation, storage and disposal of nuclear waste.
“The federal government is going to need to move first,” Patrick Courreges, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, told The Center Square.
Under the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Yucca Mountain in Nevada is the only site designated for consideration as a permanent geologic repository for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Developing another repository would require congressional authorization.
Louisiana has its own restrictions. State law prohibits transporting high-level radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuel rods, into Louisiana for storage or disposal. Another statute prohibits using salt domes for radioactive waste disposal and generally requires state and local approvals before conducting geological suitability studies, with a limited exception for previously authorized federal testing.
Courrèges said Louisiana lawmakers would need to reconsider those restrictions if Congress changes federal law.
“If that’s clear, then our legislature needs to think about what does it want to do going forward,” Courrèges said. As of now, no legislation is prepared, though Rep. Jason DeWitt, R-Tioga, said that could change.
The federal Department of Energy selected Louisiana, Idaho, Tennessee, Utah and Oklahoma in July to continue exploring the development of nuclear innovation campuses. Federal officials have indicated they intend to select three host states, according to Stephen Swiber, deputy secretary of the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that each fully developed campus could attract up to $50 billion in capital investment, generate $10 billion in state and local tax revenue and create nearly 25,000 jobs.
The campuses are intended to strengthen the nation’s domestic nuclear supply chain, reducing its dependence on foreign suppliers while expanding the production and recycling of nuclear fuel.
Unlike traditional nuclear power plants, which generate electricity, the proposed campuses would concentrate on the materials and industrial processes needed to support the nuclear industry.