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"Today isn't about a guarantee for (a) campus or a specific number or a specific promise for future investment," Gov. Patrick Morrisey said last week, as he announced the U.S. Department of Energy had done him a favor and added West Virginia as the sixth state on a list of those being considered for a nuclear lifecycle innovation campus.
"West Virginia wasn't originally part of that group, but we wanted to be, so we started working the phones, we started engaging more and more," Morrisey said.
Idaho, Tennessee, Utah, Oklahoma and Louisiana were chosen as part of a process that was announced Jan. 28, with a deadline for states to submit their information by April 1. Those first five were chosen back in July.
Morrisey was right, then, to use careful language in describing the results of his "working the phones."
Among the possibilities for such a campus are fabrication of nuclear fuel for reactors, enrichment, taking used fuel for reprocessing -- and waste storage. It is also possible the chosen state could be host to a nuclear reactor for power generation.
Now, state officials will need to work with stakeholders to put together a plan that shows what West Virginia has to offer for a potential nuclear lifecycle innovation campus. Then, they'll have to submit that plan and a hosting agreement (presumably, on time).
"I think it's important to remember that we have the building blocks for a lot of development when it comes to the energy sector, whether it's steel, wire, titanium," said Bill Bissett, president of the West Virginia Manufacturer's Association. "The hope is as we all see this greater need for energy production, it creates tremendous manufacturing opportunities here at home. And that's really the additional dividend. If we can build turbines, if we can build transformers, and we can build parts for nuclear reactors, all of that goes back into construction and manufacturing jobs."
Bissett's vision aligns well with that of lawmakers who have increasingly understood the need for a true all-of-the-above energy approach in West Virginia.
Should Morrisey's called-in favor bear fruit, he and lawmakers MUST agree only to building something that will mean a significant number of good-paying, PERMANENT jobs at a safe facility that does more than just store nuclear waste.
They must not welcome in another problem for future generations to sort out, while also doing very little for the generations who need an improved, expanded and diversified economy NOW.