Two months after Louisiana became a finalist for a national initiative to modernize nuclear power, state officials have begun meeting with local officials — most recently in East and West Feliciana parishes — about interest in new nuclear development.
Such companies could include those engaged in recycling spent radioactive fuel rods, nuclear fuel enrichment and permanently storing nuclear waste.
The state Department of Conservation and Energy, which is leading Louisiana’s effort to win the federal competition, met with local officials last week in south Louisiana and will hit the northern part of the state soon.
“We’re visiting different areas saying, ‘Hey, here’s the kind of things that are out there that might be part of it. Is there anything you’ve got an interest in?’” said Patrick Courreges, a state energy department spokesman.
One such meeting took place with East Feliciana officials late last week, said Police Juror Richard Oliveaux. The police jury is considering whether to support the state’s effort to land a “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus,” a designation that federal officials say could attract up to $50 billion in private-sector investment.
The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury voted 8-1 Monday on a resolution expressing interest in further talks about a possible nuclear facility.
Neighboring West Feliciana is home to one of the state’s two nuclear power plants, River Bend near St. Francisville.
West Feliciana Parish President Kenny Havard said he has taken part in the talks and has also spoken to officials at Curio Energy, a startup company pitching a fuel-rod recycling plant. Courreges said officials with Curio have participated in some of the state meetings with local officials.
Curio wants to build a plant to recycle spent rods now being stored at nuclear plants across the nation into reusable nuclear fuel or into other material for commercial and medical purposes, according to the company.
In addition to River Bend, West and East Feliciana have ample land and Mississippi River and railroad access to attract nuclear industry companies, officials have pointed out.
Havard said he believes Louisiana may have three or four potential areas for one of the campuses. He stressed the preliminary nature of the discussions in the Felicianas.
"There's been nothing set in stone, no property purchased or bought, you know, any of that stuff, but we are having conversations," he said.
Oliveaux cautioned that he didn't know what talks other East Feliciana officials may have had, noting the concept is still in the early stages and would not move forward without public input first.
Courreges said the state isn’t ruling out locating different nuclear industries in different parts of the state.
Officials with Curio — based in Washington, D.C. — couldn’t be reached for comment.
Company CEO Ed McGinnis spoke to Louisiana lawmakers in a committee hearing last year. McGinnis, a Jefferson Parish native, said material from the recycled rods is an untapped energy source.
McGinnis said the spent rods, which would be held in specialized containment, could be moved to the recycling site by road, rail or water. He pointed out that the federal government's site for permanent storage for nuclear waste, Yucca Mountain in Nevada, hasn't opened nearly three decades after its planned start date.
Spent nuclear fuel rods are being stored at the nuclear power plants where they were used, including River Bend and Waterford 3, in St. Charles Parish. Operations often use lined water tanks to cool the rods for several years and then put them into dry storage.