GILLETTE, Wyo. — An informational town hall meeting in Gillette tonight drew sharp debate over the future of nuclear development in the state, with community members and officials weighing the economic promise against long-term waste and sovereignty concerns.

The meeting, one of the latest in a statewide series on nuclear energy, featured guest speaker Chuck Hope, a businessman and City Council member from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a city deeply connected to the Department of Energy and now considered a national model for nuclear reindustrialization. Also speaking was Wyoming Rep. Christopher Knapp, chairman of the state’s Corporations and Management Audit committees and a member of the Minerals Committee, who urged caution as nuclear companies show increasing interest in Wyoming.

Hope described Oak Ridge as a “nuclear renaissance” city that has attracted nearly $20 billion in private investment from a dozen companies over the past two years. He said the city’s success stems from deliberate planning, investment in infrastructure and clear expectations for industry partners.

“Oak Ridge has a rich nuclear history, but we’ve learned that community engagement and long-term responsibility are critical,” Hope said. “We require that companies be part of the community — live here, pay taxes here, and ensure they don’t leave us with cleanup problems later.”

He explained that Oak Ridge’s City Council mandates that nuclear companies cannot become their own interim waste storage facilities. “We have no interest in storing waste on-site indefinitely,” he said. “There’s no national repository yet, but that doesn’t mean cities should take that burden on themselves.”

Hope spoke about several projects under development in Oak Ridge, including the Tennessee Valley Authority’s small modular reactor project, Centrus Power’s pilot reactors Hermes 1 and 2, and Radiant’s R-50 microreactor at the former K-25 site. Radiant had been trying to build in Natrona County, just north of Bar Nunn by Casper, but announced the move to Tennessee this week because of regulatory uncertainty in Wyoming. He also said Tennessee’s governor created a $50 million Nuclear Strategy Development Fund to help recruit nuclear firms to the state, supported by reliable low-cost energy and access to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

While Hope focused on economic opportunity, Wyoming officials and residents raised concerns about the implications for waste management and state control.

Knapp warned the type of highly enriched uranium fuel used in newer small modular and microreactors — enriched up to 19.72% — could produce extremely radioactive waste that remains dangerous for centuries.

“We don’t yet know how this level of radiation will affect dry-cask storage over time,” Knapp said. “We could be looking at cracking or weld failures in 50 years, and no one knows who will be responsible then.”

Knapp also cautioned that despite Wyoming’s law prohibiting nuclear waste from being brought in from other states, federal agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can override state statutes by contracting with private companies for so-called “intermediate storage.”

“That’s the federal word game,” Knapp said. “They call it 100-year storage, but that’s effectively permanent. Once that material is here, it’s not leaving.”

He cited a case in Texas where a private company was permitted to store nuclear waste despite state opposition, calling it “a warning shot” for Wyoming’s ability to maintain control over its land and energy policy.

Knapp also criticized what he called a lack of transparency between Wyoming leadership and the public. “There are nondisclosure agreements flying around, private meetings with nuclear vendors, and the Legislature is being left out,” he said. “If we can’t even have an open conversation about what’s being proposed, how can people trust the process?”

Both speakers agreed that nuclear development must come with robust emergency response systems and environmental protections. Hope pointed to Oak Ridge’s cross-trained response teams and new 50,000-square-foot training facility as models for preparedness. He said the city’s water systems and environmental safeguards meet stringent federal and state standards, adding that wastewater from the city’s plant is “cleaner than the water we pull in.”

Still, Knapp argued that Wyoming should focus on reinforcing its traditional energy strengths instead of pivoting toward nuclear.

“We already export 70% of our energy,” he said. “Let’s use our low-cost coal and gas to power data centers and AI operations rather than competing to replace them.”

He also took aim at past state policies, such as House Bill 200, which required coal plants to pursue carbon-capture pilot projects. “That law did nothing but drive up power bills — we’re talking $500 million to $1 billion per plant,” Knapp said.

The next town hall in the series is expected to take place in Wright in early November.

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