David T. Stevenson has spent 12 years as the director of the Center for Energy & Environmental Policy for the Caesar Rodney Institute.
A quiet energy revolution is underway. Closed nuclear power plants are reopening, and new small modular reactors — using both traditional and advanced technologies — are under development, totaling more than 3 gigawatts of planned capacity. These plants are projected to begin generating electricity between 2027-32, and national targets aim to triple nuclear capacity by 2050.
Delaware has joined this growing national movement by adopting a resolution to form a Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, more than 200 nuclear-related bills have been introduced this year across roughly 40 states.
Site momentum and public confidence
National enthusiasm has facilitated the early siting of small modular reactors — especially on federal land or at existing nuclear facilities. A U.S. Department of Energy analysis identified about 394 candidate coal plant sites (retired and operating) with existing grid interconnections.
SMRs are designed with robust safety features that, in some cases, allow smaller emergency planning zones, depending on the design and site. Many use closed-loop cooling systems that recirculate water, significantly reducing withdrawals; overall consumption varies by design. Public support is growing, though critics still raise concern about long-term used-fuel storage and radiation exposure standards.
As more sites advance, the practical question becomes how we manage the fuel cycle — especially the growing inventory of used fuel.
Turning used fuel into opportunity
Here’s the overlooked opportunity: the used fuel itself. U.S. reactors generate about 2,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel each year, and only about 5% of utilities’ uranium purchases come from U.S.-origin material.
The current inventory of used fuel in the country is approximately 95,000 metric tons, comprising about 95% of reusable uranium recoverable in certain fuel cycles. Most of the remainder is plutonium and other isotopes. Advanced reactors could consume the plutonium, and other isotopes are used in medicine, so very little used fuel may wind up in long-term storage.
A storage site was built in Nevada without full state approval and was never opened. Any new storage site will require support from individual state governments, as well as approval from multiple states to permit used fuel to travel across their borders.
A state developing interim and long-term storage could see meaningful economic gains — from potential payments out of the nearly $50 billion nuclear waste fund and from co-locating recycling, reprocessing and nuclear power plants.
Against that backdrop, policy is starting to catch up with technology.
Delaware’s role in shaping national nuclear policy
Policy is finally catching up with the technology. In July 2024, Congress passed the ADVANCE Act, which included amendments I drafted. The amendments made recycling used nuclear fuel a federal priority and created an award for the first advanced reactor that could consume plutonium. The act also gave the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission a year to find ways to accelerate permit approvals to 18 months.
In June, the commission announced an 18-month timeline to permit the construction of a 100-megawatt advanced nuclear design SMR in Texas for Dow Chemical, thus meeting that goal.
In 2025, I helped establish a “used nuclear fuel” discussion team to determine key objectives for federal and state legislation to finally resolve the used-fuel challenge. The group includes key members of the nuclear industry, including legacy companies and existing public organizations, and businesses directly involved in reprocessing and recycling used fuel.
From policy to progress
Momentum is also growing at the federal level. In May, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders that will need legislative action, including:
These objectives are similar to those developed by our discussion team. We already have interested key legislators in the U.S. Senate’s and the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy committees. We also have supporters on the ground in four states likely to accept used-fuel storage: Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas and Louisiana.
At the request of a Wyoming state senator, I have drafted a model resolution to support nuclear energy and in-state used-fuel storage for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which includes all or parts of the 12 Western states, plus Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, and the northern part of Baja California in Mexico.
Separately, draft federal legislation has been created and is awaiting publication. In 2026, the Department of Energy is likely to seek state proposals to host storage and used-fuel recycling facilities. Once approved, states can begin constructing storage locations to finally begin accepting used fuel from power plants, as required by existing federal law.
This alignment turns discussion into action for Delaware. The state can prepare to participate, to capture economic and energy gains.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
