Why it Matters

The proposed Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses are intended to modernize the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle while creating new pathways for managing spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste. The issue has become more immediate as nuclear power plant retirements have increased concern about spent nuclear fuel stranded at closed reactor sites, while Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Idaho agreed to explore hosting campuses that could support activities across the nuclear fuel cycle and the development of new U.S. nuclear energy projects. The Senate hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23.

Broader Context

The U.S. Department of Energy issued a January request for information asking states to express interest in hostingNuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, which could support activities across the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing of used nuclear fuel and waste disposition.

The second Trump administration has made development of used nuclear fuel recycling a priority, with the Department of Energy awarding more than $19 million to five companies to research and develop recycling technologies. The Department of Energy's fiscal year 2026 Nuclear Waste Fund oversight plan includes an investment strategy, prudent portfolio management and administration of the standard contract for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

Congressional proposals include H.R. 1012, the Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 2025, which would amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prioritize the acceptance of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel from certain civilian nuclear power reactors. Lobbying records show nuclear-related activity by Nuclear Co., which reported $60,000 in lobbying expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2025 and listed construction and deployment of nuclear power projects, tax incentives for nuclear power, the International Nuclear Energy Act of 2025 and the Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act.

The Bottom Line

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act established a federal framework for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in a deep geologic repository. The Storage and Transportation Of Residual and Excess Nuclear Fuel Act of 2021, also known as the STORE Nuclear Fuel Act of 2021 (H.R. 2097), would have authorized the Department of Energy to develop nuclear-waste storage facilities or contract with nonfederal facilities, subject to state, local and tribal consent. Proposed Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses represent another approach, potentially combining waste management with activities across the nuclear fuel cycle.

The Government Accountability Office reported that the Department of Energy spent nearly $15 billion beginning in 1983 to evaluate potential nuclear-waste repository sites, study the Yucca Mountain site and develop and submit its license application.

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