After Biden banned Russian uranium, Richland hopes to land $3B nuclear fuel plant with 1,000 jobs

The city of Richland is a candidate for an advanced nuclear fuel cycle facility that could employ 1,000 and cost $3 billion to build.

It’s an eye-watering figure, but substantially less than the $4.5 billion impact first presented to the city’s economic development committee when it recommended the project last month.

Neither the city nor the Tri-City Development Council could account for the different figure.

Richland’s elected leaders formally put the city in the running for the project on Jan. 7 by voting 7-0 to support a land option deal with the company behind the project.

Washington Energy LLC is a newly formed entity that sought an option to buy up to 425 acres in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park.

It plans to build a 1 million-square-foot facility to manufacture advanced nuclear fuels.

Richland is one of several undisclosed sites being considered, said Karl Dye, president and CEO of TRIDEC, the business development agency.

Karl Dye

The park is part of the 1,600 acres of former Hanford site land turned over to local governments to support industrial development.

The identity of the company is concealed by nondisclosure agreements. Washington Energy LLC incorporated in Delaware in November. It was previously identified as Project Spin and Project Dune.

It is led by Drew DeWalt, a San Francisco tech entrepreneur, who attended the council meeting but did not speak.

The city previously disclosed that the company has a contract with the Department of Energy related to the production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuels.

That list includes Louisiana Energy Services, Orano Federal Services, General Matter, American Centrifuge Operating, BWXT, Centrus, GE Vernova, Westinghouse and Framatome.

The latter is a French fuel manufacturer already with a major presence in Richland and plans for its own expansion.

DOE is pursuing domestic production and processing of HALEU after President Biden banned the import of Russian uranium in May.

The $3 billion price tag may be lower than initially expected, but the project itself is unchanged since it was first disclosed to the public.

If constructed, it will employ about 1,000 and support 2,000 more jobs in the community. It would be built in phases on a vacant land north of Framatome’s commercial fuel plant, 2101 Horn Rapids Road.

Not a commitment, yet

The agreement to award a land option does not require that Washington Energy to choose Richland for the lucrative investment. Instead, it requires it to pay an annual fee to preserve the option to buy. The fees alone could reach $1 million.

The land sale will be worth about $26.8 million if Washington Energy chooses Richland and exercises the option. The agreed on price for the 425 acres averages $63,000 an acre.

Richland Mayor Theresa Richardson touted the region’s nuclear and other credentials, including direct air service to Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix and elsewhere.

“We welcome new nuclear energy to our community,” she said in comments directed at the potential newcomer.

Theresa Richardson

It is not clear when the company will choose a site.

But the process promises to be arduous. The company must be certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. And the city must agree to provide up to 10 years of property tax breaks through its “targeted urban area” incentive program.

That leaves local officials racing to prove the depth of local support for nuclear energy.

“We’ve always been about nuclear,” said Dye. TRIDEC formed in 1963 as the Tri-City Nuclear Industrial Council to build on the Hanford site’s Manhattan Project roots. It dropped “nuclear” from its name, but not its mission.

“We’ve worked long and hard to find a company like this. Richland is a nuclear community,” Dye said.

We do hard things well here

Diahann Howard, executive director of the Port of Benton, said the community has the expertise to carry out a complex project. The port is the city’s partner on clean energy promotions..

“We do hard things well here in Richland,” she said.

Diahann Howard

Washington Carpenters Local Union 59 and other trade groups turned out en masse to show the city council that labor stands behind the project and the “transformational” opportunity it presents.

“What better way to build community wealth?” observed Julian Jensen, representing the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters and Local 59.

No one spoke against expanding nuclear fuel production in Washington state.

Supporters included many of the leading voices in Richland’s energy community.

Sandra Haynes, chancellor of Washington State University Tri-Cities, Bob Schuetz, CEO of Energy Northwest, and Lance Stephens, Richland site manager for Framatome, all asked the city’s leaders to get behind the project.

Schuetz noted that energy demand is rising.

Bob Schuetz

Developing the infrastructure – including fuel manufacturing – is the key to the growing power needs. He noted Columbia Generating Station, the 1,200 MW commercial reactor north of Richland, had been operating for 569 days straight.

Haynes, who is also president of the TRIDEC board, said nuclear fuel manufacturing has a key role to play in the battle against climate change.

“Nuclear energy is going to have to play a large part in the decarbonized future,” she said.

Richland has joined the race to secure a $3 billion HALEU facility by agreeing to land sale option deal. Idaho National Laboratory Dazzling prospects

Washington Energy joins a growing list of dazzling economic development prospects that could bring billions in new investment to the greater Tri-Cities area in coming years.

Examples include Atlas Agro ($1.5 billion, carbon-free fertilizer, Richland), Advance Phase ($4.8 billion, data center campus, Wallula Gap Industrial Park), SkyNRG ($1 billion, sustainable aviation fuel, Wallula Gap Industrial Park), ATI ($111 million, titanium melting, Richland), Rockwool ($175 million, insulation, Wallula Gap Industrial Park), and Framatome ($350 million, plant expansion, Richland).

Richland council sessions are recorded and can be watched on the Richland CityView webside. Go to ci.richland.wa.us/home.