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Washington legislators look to nuclear
It has been an unusually busy week in the world of West Coast nuclear legislative momentum. In California, a bill is aiming to effectively repeal the state’s nuclear moratorium, while in Oregon, new legislation would have the state create a nuclear feasibility study.
Now, in Washington state, legislators are introducing various measures to move new nuclear prospects forward. One motion requests that Gov. Bob Ferguson respond to the Department of Energy’s request for information regarding states hosting Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.
Ferguson
H.J.M. 4016: On January 28, the DOE released its RFI on these campuses and invited states to respond and express their interest. The campuses are proposed to “support functions such as fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used nuclear fuel, and disposition of waste,” along with potentially supporting “advanced reactor deployment, power generation, advanced manufacturing, and co-located data centers.”
House Joint Memorial 4016, which was introduced on February 14, requests that Ferguson express the state’s interest in the DOE’s proposition in a timely manner. The bill also requests that the governor do the following:
Direct the appropriate state agency or an interagency task force to submit a formal response to the RFI that articulates Washington’s priorities, capabilities, and the proposed scope of activities the state could host. Included in this response would be strategies for workforce development, infrastructure investment, technology leadership, and economic growth.
Work with the state legislature, regional stakeholders, local governments, higher education institutions, and industry partners to develop a “coordinated vision and plan that can maximize the economic and energy security benefits” in working with the DOE on this project.
After its first reading, H.J.M. 4016 was referred to the House Committee on Environment and Energy, where it now remains. The DOE has requested responses to the RFI no later than April 1, 2026.
More bills: Aside from H.J.M. 4016, there are numerous bills currently in committee in both chambers of the Washington legislature that aim to bolster the state’s support for nuclear energy. A noncomprehensive list of highlights are summarized below.
H.B. 1249 would create a 13-member Nuclear Advisory Commission with representatives from universities, state government, and the private sector. It would create plans to support nuclear development in the state.
S.B. 5821 would direct the state’s Department of Commerce to seek nonstate funds to support the development of a nuclear power strategic framework that would facilitate new advanced nuclear power projects in the state.
H.B. 1481 would order a joint audit and review committee, along with a third-party contractor, to conduct a study on the benefits of nuclear energy and the deployment of small modular reactors.
X-energy project: Regardless of whether Washington manages to respond in time to the DOE’s RFI, the state remains the center of a major advanced reactor development project. In 2024, X-energy announced a plan to deploy 12 Xe-100 SMRs near Columbia nuclear power plant—Washington’s only operating commercial nuclear power plant. This plan is being supported by a $500 million investment led by Amazon and has been named the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility.
Amazon has previously stated that construction at Cascade is expected to start by the end of the decade, with commercial operation expected sometime in the 2030s.
