Wyoming Set to Lead in Nuclear Energy—Public Input Needed

Proposed Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Facility Would Enhance and Expand Wyoming’s Energy Dominance – Public Comment Period Open Now 

The current administration is pushing an energy dominance strategy led by coal, oil, gas, and nuclear. Wyoming is already a leader in the first three legs of this strategy and is poised to become a leader in all four. The state is currently second in Uranium production in the U.S. and will likely take the top position as dormant mining operations restart in order to fulfill growing demand for domestic Uranium and nuclear fuel production. In addition to the extractive opportunities the growing nuclear energy industry presents for Wyoming, one company, BWXT Advanced Fuels, is looking to leverage Wyoming’s energy related manufacturing capabilities to produce advanced nuclear fuel at a facility in Campbell County, Wyoming.

The Wyoming Energy Authority is seeking public comment on a potential $100 million dollar grant to help make this approximately $500 million facility a reality. Your Wyoming Chamber encourages you to make your voice heard and submit public comment in support of this investment in a generational facility that will enhance and expand Wyoming’s robust energy economy.  

BWXT Advanced Fuels is a subsidiary of BWXT, the company that has built every U.S. Naval reactor for the last sixty years. BWXT Advanced Fuels is moving forward with plans to build a TRISO fuel manufacturing facility near Gillette, Wyoming and has applied for the Wyoming Energy Authority’s Large Energy Matching Funds Grant. The Large Energy Matching Funds were appropriated by the Wyoming Legislature in 2024 for the Governor to utilize to spur innovation and bring transformative energy projects to Wyoming. The Governor must approve the grant, but he has delegated the authority to administer the funds to the Wyoming Energy Authority. The legislature required that any grants be matched one-for-one by private or Federal funding.

In this case, BWXT Advanced Fuels intends to match the State’s $100 million investment with $400 million in private funding—far exceeding the legislative intent for these funds. The facility is expected to become operational no later than 2031 with construction likely to begin in 2027. Once operational, the facility is expected to employ approximately 200 people with most being locally sourced technicians, security, and administrative personnel.  

The public comment period for the grant is currently open. We encourage you to submit public comment in support of this investment in growing Wyoming’s energy economy. This facility will not generate or store spent nuclear fuel and it will be licensed and regulated by both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. BWXT has a long history in the safe and secure operations of nuclear fuel and reactor manufacturing.   

Public comment may be submitted by sending an email to the following address: wea@wyo.gov. More information about the Large Energy Matching Funds and this project are available at: https://wyoenergy.org/energy-matching-funds/.   

TRISO fuel, which BWXT Advanced Fuels intends to produce in Campbell County has been in production and testing for over thirty years and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Energy describe it as the most robust nuclear fuel on earth. TRISO particles contain all their fissile material in three layers of carbon and ceramic based materials that have been proven to maintain their structural integrity at temperatures well above that of the commercial and defense reactors they will be used in. The robust safety features of TRISO has led the Department of Defense to choose TRISO as the fuel form for its proposed advanced reactor fleet.