Radiant Nuclear Picks Tennessee Over Wyoming To Build Nuclear Microreactor Facility

Radiant Nuclear announced Monday afternoon that it will build its first nuclear microreactor manufacturing facility in Tennessee, abandoning plans for the controversial project near Bar Nunn, after months of heated debate over spent nuclear fuel storage.

 David Madison | October 14, 2025 | 6 min read

After months of debate and amid regulatory uncertainty in Wyoming, Radiant Nuclear announced Monday that it’s ditching its controversial plan to build nuclear microreactors and store spent fuel in Natrona County. (CSD File)

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add more reaction to Monday's announcement by Radiant Nuclear.

Radiant Nuclear announced Monday afternoon that it will build its first nuclear microreactor manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, abandoning plans for a controversial project near Bar Nunn, after months of heated debate over spent nuclear fuel storage.

The decision comes after Radiant repeatedly warned Wyoming officials that regulatory uncertainty could drive the company elsewhere.

Radiant announced Monday it will build a factory on portions of the historic K-27 and K-29 Manhattan Project sites, with construction beginning in early 2026. The company plans to deliver its first mass-produced semitrailer-sized Kaleidos microreactor by 2028 and scale up to producing 50 reactors annually within a few years.

"We choose Oak Ridge, Tennessee, because of their strong workforce, the community's rich nuclear heritage and the public's second-to-none nuclear IQ," said Tori Shivanandan, Radiant's chief operating officer. "Just as importantly, the state's business-friendly environment gave us the immediate regulatory certainty we needed to move fast."

State Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, told Cowboy State Daily that members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus need to answer for their role in driving away the project.

"This is disappointing for Wyoming's economic future," Cooper said, adding that vocal opposition from certain legislators erased years of economic development work aimed at bringing high-paying manufacturing jobs to the state.

Freedom Caucus Responds

Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, responded to Cooper's charge and told Cowboy State Daily the Freedom Caucus "draws the line at out-of-state waste storage."

She said the group is standing up to California billionaires who "insist on saddling our landscapes with their windmills, their solar panels and now their radioactive waste."

Ray Wert, Radiant's vice president of communications and marketing, said the contrast between Wyoming and Tennessee is stark. 

The company faced "zero opposition" in Tennessee, he said, while in Wyoming it was criticized by a few loud voices of opposition in Bar Nunn and among a group of legislators. 

"Oak Ridge's nuclear IQ is absolutely second to none," Wert said. "They were the first community in the United States to enrich uranium. They're not afraid of it. They understand it."

Bar Nunn Mayor Peter Boyer said he doesn't expect another opportunity like this to appear on the horizon.

"I don't see any other $200 or $300 million companies banging down the door to come here to Bar Nunn," Boyer said. "I think a lot of businesses would be really reluctant to come to Bar Nunn after seeing what happened with Radiant."

Boyer said the whole debate raises big questions about state legislators using their influence over local issues, saying legislators were "way out of line" in interfering with local politics.

Justin Farley, CEO of Advance Casper, said it now remains unclear how Wyoming will participate in the current "nuclear Renaissance."

"I mean, it's happening," said Farley, who worried about other nuclear tech companies like BWXT in Gillette, which "is already getting heat from that same group," he said, referring to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

The decision by Radiant to drop Wyoming as a potential manufacturing site comes after months of consideration, company officials say.

"We are absolutely looking at our second and third choices,” said Radiant's Wert in a June interview with Cowboy State Daily. "We're hopeful that Wyoming is going to be the right location for us. But it's all dependent on whether or not the state is interested in having us.”

Regulatory Roadblock

In a letter to the editor sent to Cowboy State Daily on Monday, Radiant Senior Director of Operations Matt Wilson explained the company had spent months in "open dialogue" with Wyoming officials about building the factory in Natrona County near Bar Nunn.

"Recent commercial wins, our growing work with the U.S. military, and the speed at which Radiant is moving towards successfully turning on our first reactor next year, all demanded a turnkey location where we could be quickly up and running to meet customer demand," Wilson said. "Given that, this week we had to make a very tough decision to site our first factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, instead of Wyoming."

Wilson said the decision ultimately came down to regulatory certainty. 

Wyoming law currently allows spent fuel storage only at operating reactor sites, not at manufacturing facilities. 

Radiant's business model requires returning reactors back from deployment for refueling and temporarily storing used fuel in above-ground containers at its factory.

"Radiant was only seeking to safely and temporarily store used fuel from Wyoming-built reactors returned from deployment," Wilson said. "Sadly, Wyoming's law currently does not accommodate that model."

The company conducted community polling and door-to-door conversations that it says showed Natrona County was supportive of the investment, Wilson said. But legislative opposition proved insurmountable.

Video: Radiant Nuclear Picks Tennessee Over Wyoming To Build Nuclear Microreactor Facility

Local Opposition

The project faced intense criticism from Bar Nunn residents and key legislators throughout 2025.

Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, delivered a scathing critique of the project at a Natrona County Commission meeting in June, telling commissioners that residents "overwhelmingly oppose it."

"The people of Bar Nunn do not want this in their backyard," Allemand told Cowboy State Daily in June. "I really like nuclear energy, but my constituents do not want it stored in their backyard. And I will do as my constituents say."

Allemand argued there was "no benefit for the state of Wyoming, for Natrona County or for Bar Nunn" and predicted the project would face an "uphill battle in the Legislature."

Mayor Boyer had supported the project, telling Cowboy State Daily he believed it would benefit the community despite acknowledging opposition.

"I think it would be a good thing for the town. I do," Boyer said in a July interview. "There are some who are for, there are some who are against, and some, they don't even know. It's kind of a lot of different camps here. I think overall it'll be a good thing for the community."

The project would have started with around 70 jobs and ramped up to more than 200 at full production, according to company officials. Natrona County commissioners had approved Radiant's application for a $25 million state grant for infrastructure despite some public opposition at hearings.

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.

Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Tech’s Power

New paper from the Harvard Electricity Law Initiative uncovers how utilities are forcing ratepayers to fund discounted rates for data centers 
 

Nuclear storage project in New Mexico terminated

• OCTOBER 8, 2025
• NEWS

Holtec International in Camden, N.J. May 10, 2019. JOE LAMBERTI/COURIER POST-USA TODAY NETWORK

NY AG to appeal ruling allowing Indian Point owners to dump nuclear waste into Hudson

Mario Tama/Getty Images

New York Attorney General Letitia James will appeal a court ruling allowing the owners of the shuttered Indian Point nuclear facility to resume dumping radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.

Manhattan federal Judge Kenneth Karas struck down a state law last month that would prevent Holtec, the plant’s owners, from discharging waste water into the river.

Holtec filed a lawsuit shortly after the Save the Hudson law was passed in 2023. The judge ruled that New York overstepped its authority by preventing Holtec from releasing radioactive waste from Indian Point, which the facility has been doing lawfully for decades. The ruling stated that only the federal government has the authority to regulate nuclear discharges.

But states have significant authority over water discharge and pollution, and James said in a statement that the federal court decision was misguided.

“We must ensure that the Hudson River and its surrounding communities are protected for future generations,” James said. “Indian Point must be decommissioned responsibly, and my office will be appealing this decision to defend New Yorkers and our natural resources.”

The wastewater released by the former plant contains tritium, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says is a mildly radioactive type of hydrogen. Tritiated water is chemically indistinguishable from normal water and cannot be filtered.
 

Humans are exposed to tritium through air and water. The releases from Indian Point are within federal standards, but nuclear experts have expressed uncertainty about what a safe level of exposure is and whether exposure has been studied enough. Gothamist previously reported that when tritium chemically embeds into organic matter, such as plants and animals in the food chain, its radiation dose can intensify tenfold.

“Holtec’s plan to release millions of gallons of tritiated wastewater into the Hudson River will depress interest in tourism and recreation in the Hudson Valley,” Tracy Brown, president of the environmental advocacy group Riverkeeper, wrote in a statement. The organization focuses on protecting the Hudson River. “After how far we have come in remediating both the Hudson and people’s relationship with it, this is the last thing our communities need.”

Theoretically, Holtec can resume with its plan to release 45,000 gallons of tritiated water, which is the cheapest viable option for disposing of the waste. The company has not released a date for the discharge but expressed support for the judge’s decision.

“We are pleased with recent federal court ruling, as it has always been our contention that radiological water discharge falls under the purview of the federal government and the [federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission], we will continue to decommission the Indian Point site in an environmentally responsible manner working with local, state and federal stakeholders,” Patrick O’Brien, Holtec’s director of government affairs and communications, wrote via email.

Holtec said it doesn't plan to release the waste until the legal fight has concluded.

Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins asked the commission “to direct Holtec to stop this reckless action, and to protect the health and safety of our communities. The fight to safeguard the Hudson River is far from over.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

Renewable energy including nuclear power jointly overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember.

Electricity demand is growing around the world but the growth in solar and wind was so strong it met 100% of the extra electricity demand, even helping drive a slight decline in coal and gas use.

However, Ember says the headlines mask a mixed global picture.

Developing countries, especially China, led the clean energy charge but richer nations including the US and EU relied more than before on planet-warming fossil fuels for electricity generation.

Coal, a major contributor to global warming, was still the world's largest individual source of energy generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years, according to the International Energy Agency.

China remains way ahead in clean energy growth, adding more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined. This enabled the growth in renewable generation in China to outpace rising electricity demand and helped reduce its fossil fuel generation by 2%.

India experienced slower electricity demand growth and also added significant new solar and wind capacity, meaning it too cut back on coal and gas.

In contrast, developed nations like the US, and also the EU, saw the opposite trend.

In the US, electricity demand grew faster than clean energy output, increasing reliance on fossil fuels, while in the EU, months of weak wind and hydropower performance led to a rise in coal and gas generation.

 

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity© Getty Images

'Crucial' turning point

Despite these regional differences, Ember calls this moment a "crucial turning point".

Ember senior analyst Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka said it "marks the beginning of a shift where clean power is keeping pace with demand growth".

Solar power delivered the lion's share of growth, meeting 83% of the increase in electricity demand. It has now been the largest source of new electricity globally for three years in a row.

Most solar generation (58%) is now in lower-income countries, many of which have seen explosive growth in recent years.

That's thanks to spectacular reductions in cost. Solar has seen prices fall a staggering 99.9% since 1975 and is now so cheap that large markets for solar can emerge in a country in the space of a single year, especially where grid electricity is expensive and unreliable, says Ember.

Pakistan, for example, imported solar panels capable of generating 17 gigawatts (GW) of solar power in 2024, double the previous year and the equivalent of roughly a third of the country's current electricity generation capacity.

Africa is also experiencing a solar boom with panel imports up 60% year on year, in the year to June. Coal-heavy South Africa led the way, while Nigeria overtook Egypt into second place with 1.7GW of solar generating capacity - that's enough to meet the electricity demand of roughly 1.8m homes in Europe.

Some smaller African nations have seen even more rapid growth with Algeria increasing imports 33-fold, Zambia eightfold and Botswana sevenfold.

In some countries the growth of solar has been so rapid it is creating unexpected challenges.

In Afghanistan, widespread use of solar-powered water pumps is lowering the water table, threatening long-term access to groundwater. A study by Dr David Mansfield and satellite data firm Alcis warns that some regions could run dry within five to ten years, endangering millions of livelihoods.

Adair Turner, chair of the UK's Energy Transitions Commission, says countries in the global "sun belt" and "wind belt" face very different energy challenges.

Sun belt nations - including much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America - need large amounts of electricity for daytime air conditioning. These countries can significantly reduce energy costs almost immediately by adopting solar-based systems, supported by increasingly affordable batteries that store energy from day to night.

Wind belt countries like the UK face tougher obstacles, however. Wind turbine costs have not come down by anything like as much as solar panels - down just a third or so in the last decade. Higher interest rates have also added to borrowing costs and raised the overall price of installing wind farms significantly in the last few years.

Balancing supply is harder too: winter wind lulls can last for weeks, requiring backup power sources that batteries alone can't provide - making the system more expensive to build and run.

But wherever you are in the world, China's overwhelming dominance in clean tech industries remains unchallenged, other new data from Ember shows.

In August 2025, its clean tech exports hit a record $20bn, driven by surging sales of electric vehicles (up 26%) and batteries (up 23%). Together, China's electric vehicles and batteries are now worth more than twice the value of its solar panel exports.