The US Has a Nuclear Waste Problem. Five States Want to Help with the Cleanup

The US has a nuclear waste problem. Five states want to help with the cleanup

For decades, America’s nuclear waste problem has been buried — both literally and politically. That could be changing, at least in the short term. Several states have now agreed to take a large part of America’s nuclear waste. At the same time, a government office says the country could be doing a much better job of disposing of waste from nuclear power plants. While nuclear energy has been promoted as a cleaner alternative than fossil fuels for…

Utah wants help saving Great Salt Lake in exchange for hosting federal nuclear hub

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, in blue, tours the Great Salt Lake at Farmington Bay on Saturday, May 23, 2026. (Pool photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah is a finalist to host a U.S. Department of Energy campus that would attempt to close the nuclear fuel cycle, which the federal government says would bring billions of dollars and thousands of jobs — but with it would come a significant portion of the nati…

What does Utah want from the White House to store nuclear waste? Save the Great Salt Lake.

Utah is in the running to store part of the nation's nuclear waste. But in return, a state official said Utah wants help saving the Great Salt Lake.

Nuclear Waste Could Be Headed to Five States in New US Plan (1)

July 28, 2026, Ari Natter, Bloomberg Law Tennessee, Utah and three other states are offering to take nuclear waste in exchange for federal government help in jumpstarting the long-stalled effort to build new reactors in the US. The agreements with Tennessee, Utah, Louisiana, Idaho and Oklahoma represent significant progress in a decades-long effort to find a home for almost 100,000 metric tons of spent nuclear power-plant fuel. Under the terms o…