(The Center Square) – Louisiana is one of five states under consideration for a sprawling federal nuclear campus that could combine power generation with uranium enrichment, fuel manufacturing, spent-fuel reprocessing and nuclear-waste disposal.

Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy to continue exploring the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative, joining Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah in the next round of discussions.

The agreement does not award Louisiana a campus or commit the federal government to funding one. Rather, it begins negotiations over whether the state can offer a suitable site, financing structure, workforce and regulatory environment for a project that would encompass nearly every stage of the nuclear-fuel cycle. Formal host agreements would come later.

The Energy Department received 28 applications from 26 states. Federal officials estimate that establishing a campus could attract as much as $50 billion in capital investment, generate up to $10 billion in state and local tax revenue and create nearly 25,000 jobs, though those figures represent the department’s projections rather than commitments tied specifically to Louisiana.

“This invitation for Louisiana to advance our nation’s energy security and dominance is a clear sign that our state is well aligned with President Trump’s vision for powering America’s future,” Landry said.

Louisiana’s application identified possible facilities in northern, central and southern Louisiana, according to the governor’s office. The administration has not disclosed the locations, the landowners involved or which nuclear activities each site might host.

The initiative is partly an attempt to rebuild a domestic nuclear-fuel supply chain that federal officials say has become too dependent on foreign countries.

When Congress moved to prohibit Russian uranium imports in 2024, the Energy Department said Russia controlled approximately 44% of global uranium-enrichment capacity and supplied roughly 35% of U.S. nuclear-fuel imports. The department separately committed $2.7 billion toward expanding domestic enrichment capacity.

The proposal also reaches into one of the industry’s most difficult unresolved problems: what to do with used nuclear fuel.

The Government Accountability Office reported in 2025 that the United States still had no operating permanent repository for commercial spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

A separate review found that no commercial-scale nuclear-fuel reprocessing facility was operating in the country. Most spent fuel remains stored at reactor sites while the federal government continues searching for a long-term solution.

Louisiana nevertheless enters the competition with an established nuclear industry.

Entergy Louisiana operates the River Bend nuclear plant in West Feliciana Parish and the Waterford 3 plant in St. Charles Parish. Their federal operating licenses extend until 2045 and 2044, respectively. Nuclear power provides a substantial portion of Louisiana’s electricity, although natural gas remains the state’s dominant generation source.

The Landry administration has spent the past year attempting to build on that foundation. Its Louisiana Nuclear Strategic Framework identifies nuclear-component manufacturing, additional power generation, uranium conversion and uranium enrichment as priorities.

It points to the state’s petrochemical workforce, Mississippi River access, ports, railroads and experience managing large industrial facilities as competitive advantages.

Lawmakers also unanimously approved legislation in 2025 creating an expedited state environmental-permitting process for certain advanced nuclear projects developed in collaboration with the federal government. Senate Bill 127, now Act 111, passed the Senate 39-0 and the House 95-0.

“The future of nuclear energy will be built by states with the assets, workforce and supply chains to support it, and Louisiana is ready to compete,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said.

Louisiana faces competitors with deeper federal nuclear footprints.

Tennessee built its application around Oak Ridge, home to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex and a regional network that state officials say includes more than 230 nuclear-related businesses.

Idaho hosts the Idaho National Laboratory, whose sprawling federal complex has conducted reactor, fuel and nuclear-materials research for decades.

Louisiana’s principal advantage may instead be its experience building enormous energy and manufacturing projects, along with its ability to move industrial materials by pipeline, rail and ship.

Louisiana’s new nuclear framework pledges early outreach, public input and coordination with communities that might host future projects. But the state’s initial announcement did not describe how communities would be selected, what incentives Louisiana might offer, how radioactive materials would be transported or what responsibilities the state would accept for waste storage and emergency response.