Radiant Industries, a company based in El Segundo, California, said it might want to put a factory in Natrona County to build tiny nuclear power plants, but says it needs to store its radioactive spent fuel.
A Wyoming House committee voted down a bill Wednesday that would’ve allowed for that storage.
Senate File 186, which passed out of the Wyoming Senate with strong support, ran into opposition in the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee amid mentions of radioactive “green slime” and “ooze” like those depicted on the cartoon series “The Simpsons.”
“We all remember watching ‘The Simpsons’ and seeing barrels of green slime. That’s not what this is,” said Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep.
A representative with the Wyoming Energy Authority tried to clear up any comparisons between what Radiant is proposing and the “ooze” Homer Simpson routinely mishandles at work.
“These are ceramic fuel pellets that are a very solid and stable form that are in fuel assemblies,” said Sean Schnaub, nuclear industry coordinator with the WEA, during his testimony before the Minerals Committee.
“That is a procedure that's been in place for many, many years and has a very strong safety record,” said Schnaub, drawing a distinction between the liquid waste generated during Cold War weapons manufacturing and what Radiant hopes to store at a new facility in Wyoming.
Radiant is looking at Natrona County and potential locations in other states, said Matt Wilson, Radiant’s director of operations, in his remote testimony on Wednesday.
He said his privately held company will test its 1 megawatt mini nuclear reactor prototype at the Idaho National Laboratory in 2026, and after that it hopes to begin building around 50 reactors a year at a new factory.
“We want to look and feel as close to the diesel generator at the customer side as possible,” Wilson told the committee. But instead of refueling with diesel fuel, when the nuclear fuel inside a Radiant mini reactor runs out, it would be shipped to the company’s factory location, refueled and shipped back to the customer.
The spent fuel would then be stored in Wyoming or wherever Radiant ends up building its new factory and waste storage facility. And that’s where SF 186 hit a snag.
Too Soon?
By constructing new mini reactors, refueling them and storing spent fuel at a single location, Wilson said Radiant can build a strong manufacturing business in Wyoming.
“We will have all of that as a part of our financial strategy, but again it all goes to building the factory and deploying all of that and that only happens once we have shown a ton of success,” said Wilson.
That success will come in 2026, said Wilson, when he predicted Radiant would emerge as a world-leader in the construction of small, portable nuclear reactors after it successfully tests and demonstrates its technology at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is run by the U.S. Department of Energy.
In promotional materials on Radiant’s website, the company hypes its microreactor as “the world's first portable, zero-emissions power source that works anywhere.”
“It will be the first new commercial reactor design to achieve a fueled test in over 50 years,” continues the website marketing copy. “Our microreactor can bring power to remote parts of the world and provide backup power for life-saving applications in hospitals or disaster-relief scenarios.”
That’s the plan at least, and it’s not yet a reality, according to opponents of SF 186.
“I'm advocating that this bill be deferred. I believe it's premature,” said Ron Smith, who introduced himself as an engineer from Powell who works in the mining and power generation industries
Smith told members of the Minerals Committee during his remote testimony, “Nuclear microreactors show a lot of promise. But they are not ready. I don't believe any company is ready to go in terms of building a manufacturing facility in Wyoming.”
Smith asked the committee to hold off on passing SF 186 until Radiant completes its prototype test at Idaho National Lab in 2026. He also cautioned that the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to rule later this year on a case governing the storage of waste.
“I'm asking why not wait until the court decision and the prototype tests and all the design iterations and testing and licensing will supply evidence to enable an informed judgment on your part,” said Smith, who also raised concerns about SF 186, as currently written, could open the door to Wyoming becoming home to commercial nuclear waste facilities.
Breaks Pumped, Radiant Could Go Elsewhere
At the end of public testimony Wednesday, Tarver asked Wilson with Radiant if waiting was a problem for his company.
“My question is if we take this to the interim, we do a deep dive into this. We educate the public. Do you feel that would hinder your process whatsoever if we do a deep dive? Because I don't have a positive email coming in,” said Rep. Reuben Tarver, R-Casper.
“Again, we are actively looking to name a site and purchase the site as soon as possible,” said Wilson, who noted other states already have a regulatory structure in place to accept the storage of nuclear waste.
“I'll go back to how the nuclear industry is growing in Wyoming,” said Wilson, explaining why the state is attractive to Radiant. “Once we fuel the reactor, we expect to be the first advanced microreactor to have fuel demonstration and then from there we hope to be the first microreactor to commercially sell to North America and other markets.”
Doug Bernauer, CEO of Radiant Industries Inc., is a former engineer at Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. In March, 2024, Bernauer told Cowboy State Daily his firm had selected Wyoming as one of five finalists to locate a factory to build these power plants. The other finalist states are Idaho, Montana, Utah and Tennessee.
“It would be a massive economic boom,” said Bernauer about the impact these tiny nuclear plants will have. “We’d be replacing diesel generators.”
Radiant said its generators will produce a megawatt of electricity, which is 1 million watts or 1,000 kilowatts, roughly enough power for the instantaneous demand of 750 homes at once.
Before the Minerals Committee voted down SF 186 on Wednesday, Rep. Schmid said, “I think Radiant and the supporters of the bill have a lot more work to get the public involved and get their ideas and explanations out to the public. I just think a lot more legwork needs to be done.”
Roll Call
Senate File 186 was voted down 5-3 by the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday.
No votes: Reuben Tarver, R-Casper, Kevin Campbell, R-Cheyenne, Mike Schmid, R-La Barge, Nina Webber, R-Cody, Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette
Aye votes: J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, Martha Lawley, R-Worland, JR Riggins, R-Casper
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
