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DOE Picks 5 States for Nuclear Campus. Utah May Store Permanent Radioactive Waste.

Resist Now 3 min read

The U.S. Department of Energy named Utah one of five finalist states to host a “nuclear lifecycle innovation campus,” a federal facility that could include permanent storage of the most dangerous radioactive material in the country.

The other four finalist states are Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho. According to the DOE’s own description, the campuses would “support activities across the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used nuclear fuel, and disposition of waste.” The DOE has not provided a timeline for selecting a winner.

Utah’s Proposal Includes High-Level Nuclear Waste Storage

Utah’s proposal goes beyond research infrastructure. The state’s application states it is “prepared to support DOE in advancing a safe, secure, and compliant approach to managing the first-ever long-term storage solution for high-level waste and used nuclear fuel.” That language means Utah has offered to serve as the country’s first permanent repository for its most radioactive materials.

No state has served in that role before. The proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada was effectively abandoned after decades of political and legal opposition. A Utah selection would set a national precedent with no comparable model.

Gov. Spencer Cox has championed the campus. In March 2026, he brought reporters to a proposed site in northwest Tooele County covering “thousands” of acres, calling it “uniquely suited” for the project because of its geology, arid climate, and distance from population centers.

HEAL Utah, a state environmental advocacy group, warned that the campus amounts to a waste import deal dressed up as an innovation project.

“I can’t in good conscience say that we won this bid because it really feels like losing.”

Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director of HEAL Utah, July 28, 2026

Tuddenham said the state office that led the application explicitly offered to accept both temporary and permanent high-level waste storage, meaning radioactive material would be shipped to Utah from other states and potentially kept there indefinitely.

The Federal Investment Is Real. So Is the Risk.

The campus represents genuine federal investment in nuclear energy infrastructure, which the current administration has prioritized as part of its domestic energy policy. But for Utah residents, the tradeoff is accepting waste that the rest of the country has refused.

The site is in a remote corner of Tooele County. Remote does not mean consequence-free. Tooele County already hosts the Dugway Proving Ground and several hazardous waste facilities, making it a recurring target for projects that other communities reject.

What You Can Do Now

  1. Call Utah’s U.S. senators. Reach Sen. Mike Lee and Sen. John Curtis through the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to require a full public comment period before any final campus agreement is signed, and demand they disclose whether Utah’s proposal commits the state to permanent high-level waste storage.

  2. If you live in another finalist state, call your senators too. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho residents can call (202) 224-3121 and ask their senators the same question: does your state’s proposal include permanent waste storage, and was the public informed before the agreement was signed?

  3. Submit comments to the Department of Energy. Visit energy.gov and search for public comment opportunities on nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses. Urge DOE to publish the full terms of each state’s agreement before announcing a selection.

  4. Read HEAL Utah’s analysis and sign onto their opposition. Visit healutah.org to see their breakdown of what the proposal would mean for the state and how to add your voice to the formal opposition before a final decision is made.

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