Should Wyoming authorize additional nuclear waste sites?

I personally am a fan of nuclear power. However, there is clearly some work to be done by developers and the industry itself to insure that nuclear waste can be safely stored or repurposed. Until this is done, I’m not sure I would want to live next to a nuclear waste site.

There is a debate going on in Wyoming about whether the state should allow more nuclear waste sites. Proponents say the state would profit from allowing nuclear waste and/or spent fuel to be stored here while opponents worry about the risks associated with the sites.

According to an article in Cowboy State Daily, state law already allows temporary, high-level radioactive waste storage facilities within its borders. In 2026, the Wyoming legislature will be deciding whether to also let reactor manufacturers maintain waste facilities in-state. 

Wyoming legislators definitely need to do their due diligence before they sign any bills to allow nuclear waste — especially from out-of-state reactors — to be disposed of here. I mention out-of-state reactors because if a state doesn’t want to deal with their own nuclear waste that to me is a red flag.

If this is such a profitable endeavor, why aren’t other states clamoring to be nuclear waste dumping sites?

I have to agree with Wyoming Rep. Kevin Campbell, R-Glenrock, who wrote about his opposition in an editorial in Cowboy State Daily.

“Wyoming is not a dumping ground,” wrote Campbell. “We are not a regulatory loophole. And we are not so desperate for jobs or headlines that we should compromise our long-term safety and sovereignty.

“We can be national leaders without being nuclear guinea pigs,” he continued. “If we rewrite our rules every time a venture-backed company from Silicon Valley knocks on our door, we are not leading — we’re being played.”

This issue is so important in a world where there is a growing need to dispose of spent nuclear waste, wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries.

Landowners in Wyoming should be heavily involved in the fight over this legislation to make sure that storing nuclear waste is safe — especially if their properties are being considered as storage sites. And, if landowners are opposed, their opinions are taken in to consideration and they won’t be forced to to store nuclear waste on their properties.

No matter whether you are a fan of nuclear energy or not, I think we can all agree that the words “nuclear waste” conjure up all kinds of thoughts in people’s minds — and not all of them are pleasant. So it’s no wonder people who learn they are going to have a nuclear waste storage site in their backyard are going to rightly be leery of it.