Wyoming’s top energy agency is recommending a $100 million grant to support long-time U.S. Navy contractor BWXT’s TRISO nuclear fuel manufacturing plant in Gillette, as well as nearly $10 million in grants to continue carbon capture research and a potential new coal-fueled power unit, all in Campbell County.
Another potential grant award for $343,000 would support a feasibility study to expand a carbon dioxide pipeline network to boost enhanced oil recovery.
The Wyoming Energy Authority announced the potential grant awards this week and will accept public comment before Gov. Mark Gordon makes a final determination about whether to approve each one. The grant programs are directed at energy projects in Wyoming that “are also receiving federal or private funding,” according to the agency.
“Like other [Energy Matching Funds] projects, these projects represent a turning point for Wyoming’s energy future,” Energy Authority Executive Director Rob Creager told WyoFile via email. “Their scale speaks to the seriousness with which our state approaches energy development and diversification, not as a short-term effort, but as a long-term strategy to keep Wyoming strong and energy dominant.”
Nuclear fuel manufacturing
BWXT proposes to build a $500 million TRISO nuclear fuel manufacturing facility in Gillette. Construction of the “Category II” plant would begin about a year from now, with an in-service target of 2030, according to the Lynchburg, Virginia-based company.
TRISO consists of tiny enriched uranium pellets the size of a poppyseed, each encased in “carbon- and ceramic-based materials that prevent the release of radioactive fission products,” according to the Department of Energy. TRISO can withstand higher temperatures than traditional nuclear fuels, and the fuel never leaves the encased pellet, according to the agency.
Importantly, BWXT officials noted, “The facility [in Wyoming] will not produce or store any high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel and will not be licensed to do so by the [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission],” the company said in its application to the state.
Separately, BWXT received a $10 million grant from the state in 2023 to study how to tap Wyoming’s existing and potential machining, fabrication and manufacturing facilities to build a supply chain for microreactors. The company inked a tentative agreement last year with trona miner and soda ash producer TATA Chemicals for microreactors to be installed at its facility in southwest Wyoming.
Joshua Parker, BWXT’s senior director of Advanced Nuclear Fuel, recently spoke at a company-sponsored event in Gillette to explain why nuclear energy is receiving renewed interest and to update residents on the company’s dealings in Wyoming.
“We are an energy-starved country,” Parker told a crowd of about 200, adding that the need to support the electricity-hungry artificial intelligence boom is a matter of national security. “Here’s the thing: It takes every energy source. It’s not nuclear, it’s everything. It’s all. We need [natural gas], we need coal … We’re about to have growth in energy that we haven’t seen since coming out of World War II.
“Wyoming,” he continued, “you all have the workforce. You all have the manufacturing. You all have the energy drive. You have uranium here. You have all of those things that make a good energy community.”
BWXT’s pending $100 million grant would be the first and sole recipient of Wyoming’s Large Project Energy Matching Fund, created in 2024. If approved, the grant would fully tap the fund’s $100 million appropriation.
The Energy Authority kicked off a 45-day public comment period regarding the grant recommendation, closing on Nov. 25. Public comments can be sent to wea@wyo.gov.
Coal and carbon dioxide grants
The Wyoming Energy Authority is also considering recommending nearly $10 million from another grant program — Energy Matching Funds — to help support three other energy projects in the state.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative is asking for $4 million for an engineering and feasibility study to analyze whether to build a second coal-fueled unit at its Dry Fork Station power plant north of Gillette. The “Dry Fork Station Unit 2” study, a partnership between Basin Electric and engineering firm Sargent and Lundy, includes evaluating “boiler technologies, air quality control systems and air quality compliance,” according to an application submitted to the agency.
“Moreover, the study will provide a comprehensive comparison of coal generation alongside alternative energy sources, allowing Basin Electric to align its resource planning with current energy market trends and regulatory standards,” the company said.
The 400-plus megawatt-capacity Dry Fork Station was completed in 2011 and gets its coal from the associated Dry Fork mine. It was designed to incorporate carbon capture research.
“Recently many states have talked about their aspirations of building a new coal plant, Wyoming included,” the Energy Authority’s Creager said. “This is the first of many steps towards building America’s next coal plant in Wyoming that will use millions of tons of Powder River Basin coal annually.”
A second Energy Matching Funds grant for $5.5 million would go to the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources to advance its work tied to coal-carbon capture technology at the Integrated Test Center, which is mostly housed at the same Dry Fork Station complex.
“The project aims to expand the [Integrated Test Center’s] capabilities by accommodating a wider range of carbon management technologies,” according to the application. “The facility upgrades and operating plan will help ensure continued [Test Center] operations beyond 2026, attract diverse research tenants and strengthen Gillette’s role as a national hub for carbon management innovation and workforce development.”
The Energy Matching Funds considerations also include Contango’s application for $343,000 to expand a carbon dioxide pipeline network in the Big Horn Basin in support of enhanced oil recovery.
All three proposals are open for public comment, closing on Oct. 18. Public comments can be sent to wea@wyo.gov.
These nuclear pellets the size of poppy seeds that are super safe according to the manufacturer maybe they are I don’t know nothing about nuclear fuels or anything about nuclear power but just sounds weird to me. Wyoming seems to want nuclear power, but they don’t want nuclear waste. In fact there are laws against it so I don’t see nuclear in Wyoming‘s future. You gotta take the whole banana. What doesn’t sound weird to me is a new coal fired power plant with carbon capture technology. I think it should be built and tried and see how it goes. It can’t hurt to try something new and no matter who is president if it works, it will be sustainable.
$100 million could fund gigawatts of solar or wind power which would produce forever for almost free
How can we afford $100 million to a private company with these property tax cuts and maybe bigger cuts coming?
It’s called a “Rainy Day Fund” which hasn’t been tapped to this much needed extent since barack obama poked his finger in the eye of the coal-fired industry in 2008. It’s about time!
L