Wyoming has long been proud of its energy legacy. We've powered the nation with coal, natural gas, oil, uranium, and trona.
And now, new technologies are knocking on our door — some with real promise, and others with serious risk.
One of those is a California startup named Radiant, which is pressuring our lawmakers to change our state laws so they can manufacture nuclear microreactors and store their high-level radioactive waste in Wyoming.
It’s a bad deal, and we’d be wise to see it for what it is: a private company trying to offload their risk onto our land, our people, and our future.
Radiant wants to manufacture portable nuclear reactors — untested at scale — and is eyeing Wyoming as its proving grounds.
To make that happen, they’re asking us to adjust our regulations and carve a legal pathway for their benefit.
These are not reforms aimed at benefiting Wyoming broadly. They’re specific, targeted changes to help a single, out-of-state company advance. This should set off alarm bells.
Here’s the deal: Radiant gets the profits, Wyoming absorbs the risk. These microreactors may be small, but they still produce high-level radioactive waste.
If something goes wrong — during transport or storage — we will be the ones dealing with the consequences, not Radiant’s team in El Segundo.
And if their startup fails, as many do, Wyoming could be left holding the bag, both environmentally and financially.
Even more concerning is why they’ve chosen us. Radiant is based in California — so why aren’t they building their new technology there?
Because California won’t allow it. That’s the truth.
So now they’re turning to Wyoming, where they think laws can be rewritten quickly, tax breaks are huge, oversight will be minimal, and resistance will be low.
But the risk doesn’t stop with Radiant. If we change our state laws to let one out-of-state manufacturer store its nuclear waste here, we set a precedent.
We open the door for every other small modular reactor (SMR) company looking for a place to offload its risk. Wyoming becomes the go-to destination — not for energy innovation, but for high-level radioactive waste storage.
That’s not economic development. That’s exploitation.
Wyoming is not a dumping ground. We are not a regulatory loophole. And we are not so desperate for jobs or headlines that we should compromise our long-term safety and sovereignty.
We can be national leaders without being nuclear guinea pigs. If we rewrite our rules every time a venture-backed company from Silicon Valley knocks on our door, we are not leading — we’re being played.
We should protect our laws that protect us. Any company that wants to do business in Wyoming should play by our rules---not demand we change them to suit their business model.
Who ultimately benefits from this? Who bears the ultimate risk? What will we be remembered for — our western values — or our willingness to sell our kids’ future for someone else’s idea of progress?
A year ago, all the political ads cried don’t “California my Wyoming."
Well, that time is here. Let’s choose wisely folks. Let’s choose Wyoming
Rep. Kevin Campbell represents House District 62 in Glenrock.
