You may not know it, but Louisiana is a finalist in a national competition. In July, the Department of Energy announced Louisiana, Tennessee, Utah, Idaho and Oklahoma as the states selected to potentially host a nuclear lifecycle innovation campus, or NLIC.

Later, West Virginia joined the list. However, when details were released to the public, pushback was so intense that the governor terminated the agreement.

NLICs are a new, collaborative effort between DOE, private industry and state governments. According to the DOE website, NLICs must support nuclear fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing of spent fuel and final waste disposal, but could also include advanced reactor deployment, power generation, advanced manufacturing and data centers.

The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy envisions job creation and significant monetary benefits if Louisiana is selected and has encouraged local officials to come up with a “Wish List” of how they would like to see this windfall disbursed. West Feliciana, East Feliciana, Lafourche and St. Charles are a few parishes under consideration to host the spent fuel rod reprocessing and final waste disposal facility proposed by Curio Energy.

According to its request for information, DOE wants “host agreements” signed by December, and envisions campuses would be deployed quickly with the initial facilities online in the 2027 timeframe. There is concern among industry analysts, public health advisers and environmental agencies that this urgent timeline will undermine safety concerns, public trust and political support.

This RFI is widely considered a flawed document on a completely separate level because it transfers all liabilities, risks, and costs from the federal to the state and local governments. Taxpayers’ liability for DOE’s spent fuel obligation is over $56.5 billion. Will promises of private investment and jobs be worth an obligation of this magnitude?

ISIS LONGO

Ethel