IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Idaho is in the running for a proposed Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus that could double the size of Idaho National Laboratory’s workforce. But some are concerned about requirements that the state store more spent nuclear fuel as part of a potential agreement.
If selected, the project would have monumental implications for the state of Idaho.
The U.S. Department of Energy says the campus “has the potential to create about 25,000 new jobs, attract up to $50 billion in capital investment and generate up to $10 billion in state and local tax revenue.”
Local News 8 interviewed both candidates in the State Senate District 33 race to hear their perspectives over the issue.
State Senator Dave Lent, (R)-Idaho Falls, is one of 46 Idaho lawmakers who signed an August 17 letter expressing support for the project.
The project would cover the entire life cycle of nuclear fuel – including fuel development, nuclear reactors, reprocessing fuel, interim storage and potentially long-term fuel storage, he said.
“They’re primarily offering tens of thousands of jobs, essentially,” Lent said. “If you think about what’s involved with this … we’ve got to get this word out to our youth and say, ‘Hey, there are literally thousands of thousands of potential high-paying great jobs coming to our inner-mountain area.”
He clarified that technological advancements ensure the project could be implemented while maintaing the safety of people and the environment as the top priorities.
“We have some nonnegotiables here. Those are, number one, we will protect our people and the people of the state of Idaho. Number two, we will protect our environment,” Lent said. “That’s where we start and end all these discussions. We believe and I believe, having worked and been around this industry for many, many years, that we have evolved to the point where we can confidently stand up and say we can handle these projects safely and that will be a great benefit to our area.”
Democratic candidate Jan Brown served as a special assistant to Governor John Evans on natural resources and nuclear waste from 1985-1986. She is concerned about the federal government’s ‘carrot-stick’ approach to provide funding in exchange for storing nuclear waste.
“The discussion is that you would get a third of the nation’s waste coming into the state,” Brown said.
She questioned the “aggressive timeline” of the proposal, stating, “There are conditions with this agreement so far that I don’t particularly like, and I think we should have a much more scientific approach looking at which states actually are the best places for ultimate disposal of some radioactive waste. You know, the half lives are over 200,000-year half life. There are certain radionuclides that simply have to be isolated for hundreds and thousands of years, right? So we need to be far more acute in our thinking on what belongs here in Idaho, meaning our our lab and its expertise.”
Gov. Brad Little told the Idaho Capital Sun last week that “disposing spent fuel over the aquifer in Idaho is a nonstarter.”
Currently, six states are in the running to land the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus. Idaho is competing against Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana and West Virginia.
The Department of Energy is expected to announced three host states by the end of this year.
