West Virginia has withdrawn from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus (NLIC) programme. The decision marks a sharp policy reversal for Governor Patrick Morrisey, who had announced a few weeks earlier that West Virginia was joining five other states – Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah – as a finalist for the federal nuclear power initiative.
The programme aims to establish regional hubs to co-locate advanced reactor deployment, fuel fabrication, and advanced manufacturing. In January, DOE had sought requests for information from states with a deadline of 1 April. The first five states were selected for consideration in July, signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with DOE.
West Virginia signed its MOU with DOE on 2 September but was forced to reverse the decision in face of a mounting political backlash and public concern over a core requirement of the programme: the mandatory storage and handling of used nuclear fuel.
The catalyst was local media reports that gave details of West Virginia’s 48-page application to DOE. The West Virginia Office of Energy (WVOE) had proposed establishing a consolidated interim storage facility for radioactive waste, potentially at a former mine site in Boone County. The text of West Virginia’s MOU was obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the Charleston Gazette-Mail and WV MetroNews.
The MOU requires the host agreement submitted by the state to include details on infrastructure to handle the safe disposal of nuclear waste; address the acceptance and management of out-of-state used nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, and greater than Class C radioactive waste; and cover any approvals required under the interstate compact system on low-level radioactive waste.
In the state’s request for information sent to the DOE on 1 April, also obtained through FOIA requests by the Charleston Gazette-Mail and WV MetroNews, WVOE said it was willing to “serve as the nation’s central hub for nuclear fuel recycling, interim storage, and long-term materials stewardship”.
The document placed “consolidated interim storage facility” as a top priority, following by research for final long-term storage of used nuclear fuel in boreholes or engineered caverns, advanced nuclear reactor deployment, research into nuclear fuel recycling, front-end operations for fuel enrichment and fabrication, and manufacturing opportunities for the nuclear industry. “West Virginia has identified partially spent and spent nuclear fuel streams management as a near-term actionable strategic opportunity. West Virginia proposes anchoring the (NLIC) around advanced fuel recycling, materials recovery, and responsible long-term nuclear materials stewardship. This opportunity would anchor the early phase of its Innovation Campus’ lifecycle functions.”
WVOE officials agreed to seek a licence to develop a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in conjunction with a private-sector partner to store used or partially used nuclear fuel from decommissioned or active power plants. The document said a CISF could become a resource for neighbouring states with nuclear power plants.
Following intense opposition from local leaders and lawmakers, Governor Morrisey shifted his stance. However, be pushed-back against the media reports. In a post of X he said: “The Gazette got it wrong. This … story intentionally misrepresented my administration’s energy plans without giving me a chance to address their claims and slanted coverage. Here’s the truth: We are pursuing nuclear generation and manufacturing to bring high-paying jobs to West Virginia.”
He added that the application to DOE was part of that effort. “We want to build on our existing strengths in coal and natural gas to create more jobs and opportunity, stronger communities, and a higher standard of living. But West Virginia will not be a dumping ground for nuclear waste. Period. I have directed my Office of Energy to ensure that every site identified in our final Nuclear Campus application is considered only for nuclear generation or manufacturing – not as a dump…. More energy jobs and manufacturing jobs are on the table. Nuclear waste dumps are not.”
WVOE submitted a brief, one-paragraph letter to DOE declining to sign the necessary hosting agreement before the federal deadline. The letter to Marla Morales, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary at DOE, noted: “While we are unable to execute the Hosting Agreement and commit fully to its requirements, West Virginia remains fully committed to supporting President Trump and Secretary Wright’s vision for a national nuclear renaissance.”
Governor Morrisey’s spokesperson, Lars Dalseide, echoed the Office of Energy letter. “President Trump and Secretary Wright are working to restore American energy dominance, and the Governor is proud to stand with them as we build the nuclear industry America needs,”
Meanwhile, Tennessee, Utah, Louisiana, Idaho, and Oklahoma are progressing through the NLIC initiative pursuing a “full-cycle” ecosystem approach. The programme aims to modernise the US domestic nuclear energy supply chain by co-locating up to $50bn in private and public capital investment. The core strategy relies on integrating multiple steps of the fuel pipeline onto single, secure campuses.
Following West Virginia’s withdrawal from the NLIC initiative, its nuclear future is shifting focus. Instead of an all-in-one federal fuel-cycle campus, the state is tilting toward the independent commercial deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs). This builds on West Virginia’s 2022 repeal of its decades-old ban on commercial nuclear construction.
The state remains highly attractive to private nuclear developers looking to build smaller generation units on shuttered coal plant sites, using existing grid interconnections and a skilled workforce without the mandate to reprocess or store used fuel locally.
However, in future, any local energy projects will face intense public scrutiny regarding waste handling. The fallout over the secretive Boone County proposal highlights that any future commercial nuclear development in the state will require vastly higher levels of local transparency and strict limits on waste containment.
