WV drops bid for $50B federal Nuclear Innovation Campus | State Journal News | wvnews.com
West Virginia drops bid for $50B federal Nuclear Innovation Campus
- by Charles Young EDITOR
- 2 hrs ago
- 3 min to read
West Virginia has joined a U.S. Department of Energy initiative exploring nuclear energy development, building on recent state efforts to remove legal and regulatory barriers to nuclear power.
Morrisey
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Quick take:
- West Virginia will not host a federal nuclear campus: The state Office of Energy said Sept. 30 it cannot execute the U.S. Department of Energy’s hosting agreement or fully commit to its requirements.
- The state had previously pursued the opportunity: West Virginia joined the DOE’s Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative and submitted a broad proposal in April that included nuclear generation and manufacturing as well as fuel recycling and spent nuclear fuel storage.
- Morrisey opposed nuclear waste disposal: Gov. Patrick Morrisey has said West Virginia should pursue nuclear generation and manufacturing but “will not be a dumping ground for nuclear waste.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia will not host a federal Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus after state officials said they are unable to execute the required hosting agreement and fully commit to its requirements.
In a Sept. 30 letter to Marla Morales, acting deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, West Virginia Office of Energy Director Nicholas S. Preservati said the state cannot sign the agreement but remains committed to supporting President Donald Trump’s and Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s vision for a national nuclear renaissance.
Preservati also said West Virginia remains ready to support the DOE, the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative and future campus recipients.
The decision marks a change from earlier this year, when West Virginia joined Idaho, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma and Louisiana in pursuing participation in the federal initiative.
The DOE program is intended to support development across the nuclear fuel cycle. Proposed campuses could include fuel fabrication, enrichment, used nuclear fuel recycling, advanced reactors, power generation, research and advanced manufacturing.
DOE estimates have indicated an individual campus could attract up to $50 billion in capital investment and create nearly 25,000 jobs. Those figures represented the potential scale of an individual campus and were not projections for West Virginia.
As part of its earlier participation, the West Virginia Office of Energy submitted a 48-page response in April to a DOE request for information about establishing Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.
The state’s response described a broad vision for a campus and said West Virginia had “maximum interest” in hosting one.
The proposal called for West Virginia to serve as “the nation’s central hub for nuclear fuel recycling, interim storage, and long-term materials stewardship.”
It included potential development of a consolidated interim storage facility for partially spent and spent nuclear fuel from active and decommissioned nuclear power plants. The proposal also discussed fuel recycling, materials recovery and potential long-term disposal options.
The April response identified four potential sites: the 1,000-acre Hobet site in Boone County; the 380-acre Century site and 508-acre Casto site in Jackson County; and the 407-acre Old Standard site in Jefferson County.
Additional potential locations were identified in Grant County, Mason County, the Kanawha Valley and the Ohio River Corridor.
The sites had not been fully vetted or qualified based on geological characteristics, according to the state’s response.
The broad scope of the proposal also differed from Morrisey’s public position on West Virginia’s nuclear strategy.
Morrisey has emphasized nuclear power generation and manufacturing as ways to attract investment and high-paying jobs while building on the state’s existing energy industries.
“We are pursuing nuclear generation and manufacturing to bring high-paying jobs to West Virginia,” Morrisey said.
At the same time, Morrisey has explicitly rejected using West Virginia as a site for nuclear waste disposal.
“But West Virginia will not be a dumping ground for nuclear waste. Period,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey had directed the Office of Energy to ensure sites identified in final applications were considered only for nuclear generation or manufacturing.
The DOE initiative does not require participating states to host every type of nuclear activity contemplated by the broader federal program. States pursuing campuses were expected to enter hosting agreements with the department as the process progressed.
West Virginia’s decision not to execute the agreement ends its pursuit of hosting a campus through the current process, while state officials said they will continue to support the broader federal initiative and future campus recipients.
West Virginia’s efforts to expand its nuclear industry followed changes in state law.
In 2022, the Legislature repealed restrictions dating to 1996 that had limited construction of nuclear power plants in West Virginia.
In 2024, lawmakers established a state radiation control framework and began the process of seeking an agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Those changes did not authorize construction of a nuclear plant at any specific location.
West Virginia officials have previously pointed to the state’s existing energy infrastructure, industrial base and workforce as potential advantages for nuclear-related development.
The state’s decision to decline the federal hosting agreement does not preclude other nuclear development in West Virginia, including projects focused on nuclear generation or manufacturing.
Editor Charles Young can be reached at 304-626-1447 or cyoung@wvnews.com
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