State committee recommends $100 million in matching funds for BWXT nuclear fuel facility
GILLETTE — BWX Technologies applied for $100 million in Large Project Energy Matching Funds through the Wyoming Energy Authority to help construct a TRISO fuel fabrication facility in Wyoming.
This week, a committee recommended sending this proposal to Gov. Mark Gordon for review, according to a press release from the WEA.
Residents and elected officials can weigh in on the project. A one-page summary can be found on the Wyoming Energy Authority’s website at tinyurl.com/2ks9aver.
A 45-day public comment period opened Friday and will end Nov. 25. Comments can be submitted to wea@wyo.gov.
Following this, the proposal will go to the Attorney General’s office and then the governor for final approval.
Last month, BWXT announced its plans to build the 150,000- to 250,000-square foot facility east of Gillette, although the exact site hasn't been finalized. It’s expected to begin operations in late 2030 at the earliest and would employ 200 people.
In its application, BWXT wrote that the nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Campbell County “would leverage their industrial base, manufacturing expertise, and generate a broad set of economic impacts in the local community and surrounding region from feedstock and commodity supply, transportation, facility management, and the generative impact of new jobs on the local economy.”
The facility would create TRISO fuel from enriched uranium, made up of a small uranium core coated in layers of carbon material to prevent the release of fission product, even at high temperatures, which would then be transported to advanced nuclear reactors in other communities.
Additionally, BWXT said the facility “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 Wyoming Legislature established the Large Project Energy Matching Funds to be used for private or federal funding for research, demonstration, pilot projects or commercial deployment projects related to Wyoming energy needs.
The review committee is made of the executive director of the WEA, a designee from the governor’s office, the director of the Department of Workforce Services, the State Geologist and the CEO of the Wyoming Business Council.
According to Wyoming statute, the state’s contribution through these matching funds can never exceed 50% of the total project cost.
This story was published on Oct. 10, 2025.