{"id":549761,"date":"2026-03-28T04:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T04:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/549761\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T04:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T04:29:10","slug":"a-nuclear-fuel-recycling-facility-is-likely-coming-to-utah-soon-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/549761\/","title":{"rendered":"A nuclear fuel recycling facility is likely coming to Utah soon \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced plans for a nuclear fuel recycling facility in Tooele County, saying it could reuse spent fuel, strengthen U.S. energy independence and create up to 10,000 jobs.Utah leaders ceremonially signed HB78, SB135 and SCR1 to expand the state\u2019s nuclear regulatory authority and attract private investment in nuclear recycling.State officials say the proposed facility could cover hundreds of acres on SITLA land and would help address nuclear waste by reprocessing spent fuel that still contains most of its original energy potential.<\/p>\n

Utah\u2019s Tooele County may soon be home to a nuclear fuel recycling facility, Gov. Spencer Cox announced on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n

The plans came in response to the federal Energy Department\u2019s recent request<\/a> for states to volunteer as hosts for nuclear lifecycle innovation campuses. <\/p>\n

Cox views the DOE-backed request as a way to boost Utah\u2019s position as a leader in nuclear innovation and help the U.S. in its efforts to become more energy independent. <\/p>\n

Used nuclear fuel still contains about 95% of its original energy potential<\/a>, so \u201cwith the right technologies, we can actually recycle that fuel and use it again and again to generate more power,\u201d Cox said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Gov. Spencer Cox speaks to media after a news conference in north central Tooele County announcing Utah\u2019s intention to compete to bring a federal nuclear campus to the county on Friday, March 27, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Such a facility could bring 10,000 jobs to Tooele County and surrounding regions. And its geology, arid climate, existing infrastructure and work force \u201cmake it one of the most practical locations for this kind of work,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

A host of private companies, from both in-state and out-of-state firms, have already expressed interest in building this type of nuclear facility in Utah. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost daily we\u2019re having people reach out,\u201d Cox told the Deseret News. <\/p>\n

Cox ceremoniously signs nuclear-related bills<\/p>\n

With state legislators and mayors standing behind him, Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson ceremoniously signed HB78<\/a>, SB135<\/a> and SCR1<\/a>. <\/p>\n

HB78 established a nuclear energy regulatory office within the state. \u201cWe need our state office to be able to regulate these facilities,\u201d in addition to federal regulation, Cox said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to keep people safe and make sure that these that the environment stays clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

SB135 asks the Office of Energy Development\u2019s to promote Utah as a location for nuclear development, work with private companies interested in nuclear fuel recycling and work with federal agencies and local communities to bring a recycling facility to life. <\/p>\n

These amendments regarding reprocessing are \u201cso important,\u201d Cox said. \u201cIt\u2019s estimated that we have about $3 trillion worth of fuel that has already been used that can be reprocessed. That\u2019s an incredible number. And Utah, if we\u2019re able to get one of these facilities here, will make a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"People gather for a news conference in north central Tooele County announcing Utah\u2019s intention to compete to bring a federal nuclear campus to the county on Friday, March 27, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n

\u201cThese amendments allow us the structure within our state to to start building a facility that can reprocess fuels,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

SCR1 declared Utah\u2019s desire to pursue agreement state status with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for additional elements of the nuclear fuel cycle. It acts as a \u201csignificant symbol to the country that we\u2019re ready for this and that Utah is going to take the lead,\u201d Cox said. <\/p>\n

A reprocessing facility would help the nuclear waste storage issue<\/p>\n

Currently, waste from nuclear energy production is stored on-site at commercial nuclear power plants in large steel-and-concrete casks. <\/p>\n

However, there is an immense amount of energy potential that still exists in spent nuclear fuel, \u201cand the hope is that we\u2019ll be reprocessing it again,\u201d Cox told the press following his announcement. <\/p>\n

Utah has until April 1 to submit its nuclear reprocessing proposal, and state leaders are \u201cgetting close,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI just saw an initial draft a couple days ago, so we\u2019re pushing really hard. It was a short time frame to turn around a big proposal like this, but we\u2019re getting closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s Office of Energy Development director, Emy Lesofski, told the press that while there isn\u2019t a final count on how much land the facility would take, it could easily cover hundreds of acres in Tooele County. <\/p>\n

\"\"Gov. Spencer Cox, right, smiles as Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, left, signs a ceremonial copy of a bill during a news conference in north central Tooele County announcing Utah\u2019s intention to compete to bring a federal nuclear campus to the county on Friday, March 27, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking specifically at SITLA lands,\u201d Lesofski said. Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is a state agency that generates revenue for public schools and hospitals. <\/p>\n

Her department expects to hear back from the Energy Department with a green light in the next several months. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019ll be sooner rather than later,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a there\u2019s a sense of urgency to get it right and to get moving on it because it is so important from a geopolitical perspective, from a national security perspective, from a country perspective and energy dominance and all and all the things that go with that. And so I think that we expect to hear relatively quickly on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Gov. Spencer Cox, left, and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, center, speak with state Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, right, before a news conference in north central Tooele County announcing Utah\u2019s intention to compete to bring a federal nuclear campus to the county on Friday, March 27, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced plans for a nuclear fuel recycling facility in Tooele County, saying it could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,5817,8793,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-549761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-news-division","10":"tag-news-feed-national","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}