Politics

Republican Governors Push Back On Trump Administration’s Nuclear Waste Demand

(Stefan Kühn/Wikimedia Commons)

A pair of Republican governors are resisting a Trump administration condition that states hosting new federal nuclear campuses take in spent reactor fuel from elsewhere.

Republican Gov. Brad Little told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview published Friday that disposing of spent fuel over the state’s main aquifer is “a nonstarter.” Furthermore, Republican West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey wrote on X on Sunday that his state “will not be a dumping ground for nuclear waste.”

West Virginia’s memorandum with the Department of Energy (DOE) calls for a legally binding host agreement by Wednesday, and either side can end the partnership if none is signed, WV MetroNews reported.

Little said the documents he signed do not obligate Idaho to host a campus or accept waste, and he does not expect a deal by the Sept. 30 date listed in the state’s memorandum, according to the Capital Sun.

Little and his administration are working directly with the DOE “to get answers to the many questions that remain before Idaho makes any commitment,” Emily Callihan, the governor’s communications director, said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Governor Little will not move forward unless we are confident those protections are in place,” Callihan added.

“Negotiations are ongoing between the Department of Energy and the six states interested in potentially hosting a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus,” a spokesperson for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy said in a statement to the DCNF.

A DOE official told the Capital Sun that accepting waste from other states is a requirement to host a campus.

“You would be disposing of nuclear fuel from other states as well,” the official added. (RELATED: Is Washington’s Nuclear Renaissance Just An Illusion?)

Morrisey’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

West Virginia’s own response to the DOE in April proposed starting with spent fuel recycling and interim storage, according to WV MetroNews.

“West Virginia has identified partially spent and spent nuclear fuel streams management as a near-term actionable strategic opportunity,” the state’s energy office wrote in the response.

Morrisey spokesman Lars Dalseide wrote on X on Monday that the “Governor’s clear directive trumps bureaucrat letter.”

Republican state Delegate Josh Holstein, who chairs the West Virginia Republican Party and represents Boone County, one of the areas listed as a potential site, said he had not been told about the proposal, according to MetroNews.

“Unfortunately, I nor any other elected official that represents Boone County that I have spoken to today, has been given any information nor was notified about this development at all,” Holstein wrote on Facebook.

Little, who said he raised his concerns directly with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, wants firm guarantees before signing any deal.

“We have to have guarantees on all the safety issues,” Little told the Capital Sun. “Those are nonnegotiable.”

The governor added that “the big question to all the states is, ‘where is the money?'”

The office of Republican Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson — whose district includes the Idaho National Laboratory — pointed the DCNF to a recent op-ed in which the congressman wrote in which he said that the proposal is about recycling used nuclear fuel rather than simply moving waste from one state to another.

Idaho “should negotiate from a position of strength, with clear terms, firm deadlines, and accountability,” Simpson wrote.

A 1995 settlement between Idaho and the federal government caps how much radioactive material can enter the state, and Little said it would have to be amended for Idaho to host a campus, according to the Capital Sun.

The DOE describes the campuses as sites for fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used fuel and final disposal that could also host reactors, manufacturing and data centers.

Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Louisiana are also under consideration, according to the Capital Sun.

There are 97,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel that have not been reprocessed, the DOE official told the outlet.