Utah Advocates Warn of Risks Following DOE Selection of Utah for Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste Developments
Contact:
Carmen Valdez
Senior Policy Associate, HEAL Utah
Lexi Tuddenham
Executive Director, HEAL Utah
For Immediate Release
July 29, 2026
Public health and environmental advocacy groups warn proposal could expand radioactive waste, increase public health risks, and advance without meaningful public input.
Salt Lake City, Utah —
HEAL Utah and advocates expressed deep concern following the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement selecting Utah as one of five states to advance planning for a proposed Nuclear Fuel Cycle “Innovation Campus.”
According to the Department of Energy, the initiative is intended to strengthen the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and could support activities such as uranium conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, spent nuclear fuel (high-level radioactive waste) reprocessing, and interim and permanent radioactive waste disposal. Every such site that already performs these functions is radioactively contaminated.
Utah was selected following the state’s proposal to host a campus in Tooele County, a site that state leaders have promoted as a location for developing a full nuclear fuel chain. While the project remains in the planning stages, HEAL Utah says the announcement signals a significant federal commitment of taxpayer dollars toward an already heavily subsidized industry. In combination with ongoing NRC rulemaking processes around NEPA review, radiation regulation, and low level waste disposal corners cut in regulations to expand the nuclear industry in the country and in Utah. This decision raises important questions about the proposal’s impacts on Utah’s public health, environmental protection, long-term radioactive waste management, and meaningful public participation.
Utah advocates see this as a way to make Utah a national nuclear waste site and point out there is no closed “nuclear fuel cycle.” Instead, at every step within the chain of nuclear activities, radioactive waste is produced and hazardous releases of radiation to our air and water routinely occur. These activities also produce the risk of catastrophic accidental releases of radiation. Part of the deal is to provide storage and disposal for high level radioactive waste, which Utah repeatedly rejected since the late 1980s.
Today, the US Department of Energy is looking for the host state, using taxpayer dollars, and private industry to fund much of the proposed program. Utah leadership has not disclosed how they intend to fund this Federal project long term against states with more cost competitive existing nuclear infrastructure and numerous deep-pocket industry partners. What we have learned is that frankly, Utah’s decisionmakers have offered up our state to take the nation’s nuclear waste.
For decades, Utah has shouldered a disproportionate burden of the nation’s radioactive legacy, from uranium mining and milling to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing and commercial radioactive waste disposal. HEAL Utah warns that this latest announcement continues a troubling pattern of asking Utah communities to bear the risks of an industry that primarily benefits private corporations.
“HEAL Utah is deeply disappointed that both state and federal leaders continue to prioritize an industry that has struggled for decades to compete without massive public subsidies,” said Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director of HEAL Utah. “Despite repeated promises of low-cost, abundant energy, new nuclear projects remain among the most expensive energy investments, often requiring billions in taxpayer support while exposing ratepayers to significant financial risk. At a time when communities need affordable, reliable energy now, public dollars are instead being directed toward speculative projects that may take decades to build, or frankly may never be completed as we have seen over and over again.”
HEAL Utah also challenges claims that spent nuclear fuel reprocessing offers a meaningful solution to the nation’s radioactive waste problem. The only commercial reprocessing in the US only operated for 6 years (1966-1972) and is estimated to cost over $10 billion (1996 dollars) to clean up.
“Commercial reprocessing has repeatedly proven to be costly, technically challenging, and economically unsuccessful,” said Carmen Valdez, a Senior Policy Associate for HEAL Utah. “Even when fuel is reprocessed, the majority of the radioactive material, sometimes more than 90%, still remains and still requires secure, long-term management. Reprocessing does not eliminate radioactive waste. It changes its form while creating additional security, transportation, and environmental risks. Rather than solving the nation’s waste problem, this proposal shifts more of that burden onto a handful of states, including Utah.”
HEAL and other advocates are also concerned with the lack of meaningful public engagement surrounding Utah’s participation in federal nuclear initiatives. “For decades, Utah communities have made it clear that they do not want our state to become the nation’s destination for radioactive waste,” said Carmen Valdez. “Yet decisions that could fundamentally reshape Utah’s future, including proposals for fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing, and expanded radioactive waste storage, have advanced with little meaningful public engagement. The people who will live with the long-term consequences were never given a meaningful seat at the table.”
Steve Erickson, Downwinders and local advocate had this to say, “Apparently Governor Cox and his cadre of nuclear cheerleaders have no recollection or respect for the decades of successful opposition that kept Utah from being wasted by nuclear detritus, especially permanent and temporary disposal and storage of High Level Radioactive Waste in spent fuel rods. Utahns don’t want this waste! For Utahns, the most important thing to remember is that this nuclear lifecycle campus is not a done deal, it’s exploratory and preliminary. It can be stopped. Many of these cheerleaders will be off the stage by the time the always promised never delivered Nuclear Renaissance fizzles again.”
HEAL Utah noted that the DOE announcement comes as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is simultaneously considering sweeping changes to federal nuclear regulations that could weaken longstanding public health protections and reduce opportunities for public participation.
“Perhaps most concerning is that this announcement comes as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering changes that could weaken longstanding public health protections,” said Lexi Tuddenham. “Expanding nuclear infrastructure while reducing regulatory oversight sends the wrong message. If the nuclear industry is truly safe, it should be able to meet strong, science and lived experience based public health standards, not rely on weaker regulations to accelerate development.”
HEAL Utah and advocates also raised concerns about the broader national security implications of expanding sensitive nuclear technologies.
“Expanding uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing raises concerns that extend far beyond energy policy,” said Lexi Tuddenham. “These technologies have long been recognized as requiring stringent oversight because they involve materials and expertise that can increase proliferation and security risks. Expanding these facilities creates additional transportation, security, and emergency preparedness challenges that communities should not be asked to shoulder without a full public debate.”
HEAL Utah is calling on state leaders to provide full transparency regarding any agreements, funding commitments, or future planning related to the proposed campus and to ensure that Utah residents, Tribal Nations, local governments, and impacted communities have meaningful opportunities to participate before any further decisions are made.
Utahn, downwinder, and long time advocate against radioactive contamination, Mary Dickson stated “Utahns have a long, dark and tragic history with the entire chain of nuclear weapons. We have earned the right to be skeptical of any assurances that there is no danger. If only our elected officials were as skeptical of military assurances and willing to ask the hard questions and, just as importantly, to seek public input before offering Utah up as a sacrificial site for a “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus.” All along the entire nuclear fuel chain, from uranium conversion, enrichment, reprocessing and waste disposal there have been casualties. Utah does not need to be put at risk for the sake of the nuclear industry, again.
Mike Maxwell of LDS Earth Stewardship, Utah Chapter, warns of the connection to the related nuclear weapons industry.
“Nuclear energy development can be a slippery slope towards the acceleration of nuclear weapons development,” said Mike Maxwell of Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship. “Nuclear weapons have been roundly opposed by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with their declaration opposing nuclear weapons stating, “We deplore… the building of vast arsenals of nuclear weaponry.”
“As Congress recently acknowledged through the expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, Utah communities have already paid an enormous price for the nation’s nuclear legacy and we know federal officials have joked about Utah being downwind before. Downwinders are a Utah community that has dealt with cancers and loss of loved ones from radiation exposure,” said Carmen Valdez. “We should be learning from that history, not repeating it.”
Diane D’Arrigo with Nuclear Information and Resource Service reiterated the concern that “The nuclear power industry desperately needs the illusion of a solution to its intractable radioactive waste problem. That is the real purpose for these supposed campuses.”
About HEAL Utah
HEAL Utah (Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Utah’s air, land, water, and communities through education, advocacy, and organizing. For more than 26 years, HEAL Utah has worked to reduce pollution, promote clean energy, and ensure that communities have a meaningful voice in environmental decision-making.
Resources:
https://www.energy.gov/articles/nuclear-lifecycle-innovation-campuses-contenders-announced
HEAL Nuclear Expert Webinar – Beyond the Reactor: What Nuclear Means for Utah’s Future
HEAL Nuclear Expert Webinar – The Impact of Radiation on Families
https://www.healutah.org/a-map-of-utahs-nuclear-industry/
https://www.healutah.org/theyve-been-downwind-before/
https://www.healutah.org/public-money-private-risk-the-nuclear-industrys-hidden-motives/
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/22/nx-s1-5903293/trump-saudi-arabia-nuclear-deal
https://www.nirs.org/wp-content/uploads/radwaste/decommissioning/wvfcsfs2.pdf