Nucleon Fuel, a subsidiary of Canadian small modular reactor developer Nucleon Energy, has applied for a $20 million grant and possible $10 million additional loan to build a uranium conversion facility near Gillette, Wyo.

Both the grant and the loan would be funded by Wyoming's recently created Energy Dominance Fund, which seeks to advance projects related to oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy in the state.

Nucleon Fuel's grant application has passed an initial committee review and currently is in a 30-day public comment period that ends on November 16. Comments can be sent to the Wyoming Energy Authority at [email protected].

Additionally, Nucleon Fuel will be hosting an open house in Gillette to discuss the project in person with members of the public on October 28.

Nucleon Fuel's technology: On their company websites, both Nucleon Fuel and its parent company, Nucleon Energy, describe themselves as being in the exploratory, planning, and engagement phases of development. They have not yet applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or other regulatory bodies for licenses for any proposed projects.

Nucleon Fuel's site does present basic information about the technology it intends to use at what the grant application calls the Fort Union Uranium Conversion Facility in Wyoming. According to the site, the company's SMR-5000 module will be part of a modular system, with each module capable of producing 5,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) every year.

The site also states that the SMR-5000 system will use a "wet" conversion process, meaning that the uranium oxide it receives as feed material will be dissolved in nitric acid to remove impurities before it is converted to UF₆. The only uranium conversion facility currently operating in the United States-Solstice Advanced Materials' Metropolis Works facility in Metropolis, Ill.-uses a "dry" process that includes five steps and involves physically resizing and heating uranium oxide particles.

The company plans to eventually install three SMR-5000 units at its Wyoming facility for a total annual output of 15,000 metric tons of UF₆. For comparison, the Metropolis Works facility is pursuing a target of 10,000 metric tons of UF₆ for 2026. Another uranium conversion start-up that has embraced modular design, FluxPoint Energy, plans for each of its small conversion units to produce 2,500 metric tons of UF₆ annually; FluxPoint expects to begin production in 2030 or 2031.

Nucleon Fuel initiated its engagement with the NRC in April, when it sent the agency a letter of intent announcing its plans to submit a license application for a conversion facility under 10 CFR Part 40. In the letter, Nucleon Fuel noted that it was exploring possible facility sites in Arizona and North Dakota as well as Wyoming, though Wyoming was the strongest candidate. The company is targeting a construction start date in 2030 or 2031.

The Wyoming Energy Dominance Fund: Nucleon Fuel seeks to bolster its available capital through a fund that Wyoming's state legislature established earlier this year.

As provided in Senate File 123, which came into effect on July 1, the Wyoming Energy Dominance Fund will award grants and loans for research, demonstrations, pilot projects, or other commercial activities related to specific sectors of the energy industry, all of which historically have been developed in the state, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear fuel, and critical minerals processing. Solar and wind energy projects explicitly are excluded.

The legislation directs Wyoming to build the fund with revenue collected from severance taxes-taxes levied on companies that extract nonrenewable resources-during fiscal year 2027. The fund has a cap of $105 million.

The legislation also includes a matching funds provision: Before any grant money is awarded from the fund, applicants must be able to match the amount of the grant with investments secured elsewhere. Nucleon Fuel already has met this requirement with $20 million in private investment.

The Wyoming Energy Authority's review committee will review applications three times every year, with submission deadlines falling on March 1, July 1, and November 1. However, the fund is limited; Senate File 123 specifies that "any unexpended, unobligated funds remaining in the Wyoming Energy Dominance Fund on December 31, 2028, shall revert to the permanent Wyoming mineral trust fund reserve account."

Wyoming's interest in nuclear: As the site of the largest uranium reserves in the United States, Wyoming has a decades-old tie to the nuclear energy industry. The Wyoming State Geological Survey lists four currently operational uranium mining projects, three of which are in the area known as the Powder River Basin, where the city of Gillette also sits.

Although Gillette's official motto brands the city as the "energy capital of the nation," historically the town has been associated with coal (at one point, it produced 30 percent of the United States' coal) as well as oil and gas. This might change not only if Nucleon Fuel's conversion facility proceeds but also if another fuel cycle project is approved: On October 21, the Cowboy State Daily reported that Campbell County commissioners had approved a one-year agreement with BWX Technologies to conduct environmental studies at Pronghorn Industrial Park near Gillette for a proposed TRISO fuel fabrication facility.

Additionally, Wyoming currently hosts another nuclear energy project outside of the fuel cycle. The city of Kemmerer in the state's southwest corner is where TerraPower is constructing its demonstration Natrium power plant, which will feature a 345-MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor.