UPDATE:
Regulatory hurdle blocks nuclear factory as Radiant Industries rejects Wyoming for Tennessee
Oil City News, Oct 13, 2025
(OPINION – Matt Wilson Radiant Industries Senior Director of Operations)
Tough decision: Wyoming’s spent fuel law drove Radiant Industries from Natrona County to Tennessee
Oil City News, Oct 13, 2025
Bar Nunn – Radiant Industries Project
Radiant Industries is a nuclear start-up company from El Segundo, California that has not yet sold one of their Kaleidos micro-nuclear-reactors. Radiant is currently designing and testing their microreactors at Idaho National Laboratories. According to California Secretary of State, Radiant filed their registration with Delaware Secretary of State on May 16, 2019. Delaware is recorded as having jurisdiction over Radiant Industries Incorporated. The earliest pre-application document available at the NRC is their Regulatory Engagement Plan from Oct 12, 2023.
Bar Nunn Residents
Referring to numerous news article (timeline below) citizens of Bar Nunn (a town of about 3,000 people) have consistently opposed Radiant building their facility in or near their municipality. The issue that citizens raise the most at Bar Nunn Town Halls is Radiant’s intent to store spent nuclear fuel on site – which is currently unlawful in Wyoming (Wyoming state law currently bans high-level radioactive waste storage unless it’s produced by an in-state nuclear power generation facility).
Nevertheless, Radiant has consistently pushed for Bar Nunn, WY to be the location of choice for their 350,000-square-foot facility. According to Cowboy State Daily, “Radiant already has a letter of intent to buy a 130-acre plot of land”. Various articles have mentioned the location to be around or near Westwinds Road – recently constructed on the northern end of Bar Nunn with easy access to Interstate 25 (map below).
Bar Nunn is represented by WY Legislative House Representative Bill Allemand in District 58, and Senator Charles Scott in Senate District 30. Representative Allemand hired Daugherty Strategies to conduct a Nuclear Fuel Survey in House District 58 in July 2025. The overall results, from 113 constituents who took this survey, show that 65% or more have concerns for trust in safety measures, environmental concerns and transportation risks. A majority of 71.7% do not support temporary storage of spent fuel.
We found no news reports if Senator Scott has spoken on the Bar Nunn – Radiant Industries Project.
Radiant Factory Siting Assessment Concerns
Among Radiant pre-application documents (NRC Docket 99902106) at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), there are at least 5 distinct documents showing Radiant requesting to Withhold Public Disclosure. In particular, this July 2, 2025 letter Request for Withholding Public Disclosure on Radiant Factory Siting Assessment. The NRC approved the request to withhold Radiant’s Siting Assessment. This is a problem. The NRC requires investigations to reveal and analyze geologic, geotechnical, geophysical, and hydrogeologic characteristics needed to understand surface and subsurface conditions and identifying any potential geologic hazards that might affect the site. These include “fault deformation, landslides, cavernous rocks (surface or subsurface karst), ground subsidence, soil liquefaction, and any other natural or manmade external hazards are of particular importance.” (Geologic and Geotechnical Site Characterization Investigations for Nuclear Power Plants, NRC, Dec 2021) As Radiant is looking at surface and subsurface storage of radioactive materials, this information needs to be public. This area is potentially high risk for successful containment in all those categories of investigation. Casper Mountain marks a major fault zone in Wyoming that has potential to move. Along this fault line, Casper is in the top ten of major earthquakes in Wyoming (1897, an intensity of VI to VII) which considerably damaged the Grand Central Hotel in Casper.
Holocene stratigraphy and chronology of the Casper Dune Field, Casper, Wyoming, USA
Halfen, Et al, 2010
Public Private Partnership
It is almost certain that Robert McMurry is the property owner where the Radiant Project is intended, as he is named as the only private entity in partnership with several government and economic entities who approved of a $25,000,000 application for a Business Committed Grant from the Wyoming Business Council (WBC). Robert McMurry’s name appears on page 8 of the June 2025 Natrona County and City Of Casper Resolutions to support the WBC application.
Generally speaking, the McMurry family is known for their dynasty-type reputation throughout Wyoming, yet based primarily out of Natrona County – including the area where Radiant plans to locate their facility. McMurry family business ventures have been heavy construction related for decades (as can be seen by almost two pages of past and present businesses registered with the WY Secretary of State), as well as philanthropical arrangements such as the McMurry Foundation, and the McMurry West Tower and NERD Health and Wellness Center at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper.
Should the Radiant project go through, it is quite possible that the McMurry Regional Training Center (also in Casper) which offers training for jobs in heavy industry, could become the training facility for Radiant employees. If that were to happen, the opportunities for “nuclear energy-related skills training and work-based learning as a grant priority” in President Trump’s Executive Order (Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base) could be another lucrative advantage for the McMurry dynasty.
Equally significant is the Granite Peak Group (founded by Rich Fairservis, Ron McMurry, and the late W.N. Neil McMurry) who was heavily involved in the creation of the Casper-Bishop Logistics Hub railroad spur (more on this below) that sits between Bar Nunn and the Natrona County Airport – smack-dab in Wyoming’s only Foreign Trade Zone. The infrastructure built for, and in relation to, the Casper Logistics Hub was generously supported by the Wyoming Business Council with over $61 million of public funds Despite citizen opposition on eminent domain issues, the Casper West Belt Loop Road (Highway 257) was completed in 2015, costing $36 million. This highway redirects truck traffic to Highway 20/26 and the logistics area was paid at 90% with federal funds.
In 2015 Granite Peak sold the Casper Logistics Hub for $225 million.
As illustrated by their own timeline, Granite Peak also built the Cheyenne Swan Ranch Logistics Hub as well as several transloading railroad facilities in Wyoming and at least one in Colorado. Any fabrication parts shipped for nuclear reactor assemblage, and transported by rail, could be another possible boon for Granite Peak.
According to UW President Ed Seidel, “We all know the McMurry name is synonymous with ‘building a better Wyoming‘.” (Page 72, University of Wyoming Magazine Vol. 24 No.3). Many residents of Bar Nunn however do not believe that the storage of spent nuclear fuel near their town is synonymous with building a better Bar Nunn.
Radiant Industrial Plan
According to their hand-out at the May 2025 WY Legislative Minerals Committee, and their Aug 22, 2025 Kaleidos Factory Fueling Operations, Radiant’s basic plan is to be a one-stop-shopping convenience factory for mass-produced 1-MW microreactors (“1MW nuclear in a box”), weighing seven tons each (28,000 lbs), in Bar Nunn, WY. This would require:
- fresh nuclear fuel (TRISO/HALEU) transported to Radiant to have on-hand for their stockpile (“fueling building”)
- new reactors being assembled, tested and fueled on factory site
- new fueled reactor transported from factory to customer
- used reactor with spent fuel transported from customer back to factory for:
- maintenance of reactor
- defueling (removing spent nuclear fuel and storing on site)
- refueling with new nuclear fuel (from stockpile in “fueling building”)
- refueled used reactor transported back to customer from factory
Radiant would require appropriate security for both their stockpile of fresh nuclear fuel, as well as security for their stored spent nuclear fuel. This need for security might explain the July 2025 Minerals Committee bill draft, Protection of nuclear reactors. While this bill was not voted on during the interim committee, it will most likely show up next 2026 Legislative Session sponsored by individual legislators.
Additionally, Radiant has also stated they intend to store spent nuclear fuel in either underground caverns or in above-ground casks. Thus, it appears they do not have a final plan in place of how they will store their spent nuclear fuel.
During a Sep 2, 2025 Bar Nunn Town Council discussion on re-zoning the land that Radiant hopes to use, Mr. McMurry was acknowledged by one resident cautioning “the Council not to rezone Mr. McMurry’s land or the large project north of town without exceptional research. He warned that any conflicts of interest involving Councilmembers, their businesses, or their family members would be exposed“. This would not be the first time that conflict-of-interest suspicions have risen over a McMurry’s business dealings – see March 2011 Wyofile article, Cozy relationship between Casper BLM manager, contractor deserves more scrutiny.
Transportation
As noted above, new fuel would be transported to Bar Nunn for Radiant’s stockpile. Additionally, the reactors would be transported back and forth through Wyoming to and from Bar Nunn – half the time the reactors would be transported to the factory with spent fuel, and the other half of the time the reactors would be transported from the factory with new fuel.
While Radiant has stated in numerous sources that transportation of their reactors will be “Land, Air, or Sea”, they appear to mention transportation by highways most often. It’s highly probable that air and rail are being considered for transportation of manufactured components.
Radiant has not stated how they will transport their reactors to and from customers outside of the United States.
According to Oil City News, each reactor would provide “20 years of power with refueling every five years”. That would equal approximately, at least, eight transportation trips in and out of Bar Nunn, Wyoming (per reactor) with each reactor always containing fuel (spent or fresh). Ten reactors would equal approximately 80 transportation trips; twenty reactors would equal approximately 160 transportation trips; and so on.
Radiant hopes to sell a minimum of 50 reactors per year.
It cannot be understated, Radiant is planning a significant amount of transportation of seven ton microreactors, each carrying nuclear fuel (spent or fresh), on Wyoming highways. Wear and tear on Wyoming highways, as well as safety and security hazards are substantial costs and liabilities that lawmakers should be seriously considering and openly discussing with their constituents.
At a June Townhall in Bar Nun (hosted by Representative Bill Allemand) Bill Tallen (retired federal agent and security consultant tasked with secure transportation of special nuclear materials shared the fallowing:
“Radiant’s reactors are both considered oversized and overweight loads under various Wyoming state statutes. This, combined with the hazardous waste carried by trucks, presents a potential security risk.”
Road impacts from the weight of wind turbines transported in Natrona County have been acknowledged in the past by the Natrona County Commission, and the same must be acknowledged with microreactors.
Wyoming Foreign Trade Zone
Natrona County is likely their favored location because it is a Foreign Trade Zone. Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) #157, in Natrona, is the only one in Wyoming. According to Natrona County International Airport, some of the benefits of FTZ 157 include:
- Duty Deferral– Customs duties and excise taxes are not payable until merchandise is released from the FTZ and enters U.S. customs territory.
- Duty Elimination – Re-exported merchandise is not subject to payment of customs duties, AD/CVD, nor excise taxes.
- Inverted Tariff – Components with a higher duty rate, utilized in production of articles with a lower duty rate, can have their duty rate reduced to the lower duty rate applicable to the finished article.
- Lower Valuation – The expense of labor, overhead, and profit on the finished product is not subject to customs duties.
- Eliminate Duties on Exports – Articles produced in a FTZ that are re-exported without entering the U.S customs territory are never subject to U.S customs duties, AD/CVD, nor excise taxes.
- Defer Duty on Production Equipment – Duty is payable when equipment becomes operational.
- Zone to Zone Transfer – Articles can, in various stages of manufacture, be transferred from zone to zone.
Click below for more info:
Wyoming Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ 157 in Natrona County)
WY Foreign Trade Zone FTZ 157 Guide Book
Within Wyoming’s only Foreign Trade Zone, Natrona County International Airport also boasts easy access to the Casper Logistics Hub, which is within spitting distance of Westwinds Road:
Casper Logistics Hub (CLH)/CTRAN (Casper, Wyoming): A transloading, trucking, erecting, storage, and warehousing facility 7 miles northwest of Casper that is managed by CTRAN and operated by BDW. The 700-acre facility features 41,200 feet of track (32,700 feet for transloading purposes) and 500 railcar spots. The facility can accommodate lumber, petroleum products, frac sand, casing, coated pipe, cement, soda ash, and wind turbines. CLH is the largest transload facility along the BNSF network between Denver, Colorado, and Billings, Montana, and it offers strategic access to the Casper–Natrona County International Airport, the Foreign Trade Zone, and principal U.S. and interstate highways. (page 67) (https://www.dot.state.wy.us/files/live/sites/wydot/files/shared/Planning/Railroads/Wyoming_SRP_Complete.pdf)
Timeline of Radiant Industries Activity in Wyoming
| Sep 22, 2025
Article: Bar Nunn Town Council continue to hear nuclear concerns, support Bar Nunn and area residents continued to voice their concerns Sept. 16 to the Town Council about Radiant Industries, a company proposing to build a nuclear microreactor manufacturing facility nearby. The council also addressed a request for a public referendum on the project, which was determined to be legally impossible under state law. |
| Sep 4, 2025 Article: $25 Million Grant for Radiant Rescinded |
| Sep 2, 2025 Article: Tempers flare between Rep. Allemand, Bar Nunn mayor over Radiant Industries, council distrust…Boyer then said it was a privilege to be able to offer public comments, which almost immediately caused a stir in the audience.“This is not a privilege, it’s a right,” a member of the audience yelled, which caused a smattering of more boos and other comments.…“Guys, we have a problem here,” Allemand said. “It’s a problem of distrust. The people behind me distrust you. Is it because you are dirty, or that you’ve done something wrong, or that you are being bought off? No, it’s not. It is the distrust that they hired you — they voted for you as they voted for me — and now your votes are going against them.” |
| Aug 22, 2025 |
| Aug, 14, 2025 Article: Radiant signs contract on microreactors for the military |
| Aug 12, 2025 Article: DOE Announces Initial Selections for New Reactor Pilot Program |
| Aug 8, 2025
Article: Bar Nunn council clashes with nuclear microreactor project opponents …Bar Nunn’s legal authority over the proposed site is hindered because it’s outside city limits. Boyer explained that a 2019 state law prevents the council from voting on developments outside town limits, even within its designated growth boundary. The council’s only role in such matters is to provide an opinion to the county, which will make the final decision. …Speakers at the meeting expressed a critical view of some councilors’ conduct in discussing Radiant’s plan on social media and elsewhere. They called for the council to remain neutral and to allow a public vote on the matter. Some also expressed distrust, accusing councilors of hypocrisy and lying. |
| Jul 28, 2025 Article: Nuclear crossroads: Unpacking Radiant Industries’ microreactor manufacturing plan in Natrona County |
| Jul 27, 2025 Article: Part Five: The Land Was Spoken For |
| Jul 24, 2025 Article: ‘It should not be in Wyoming’: Gray, constituents share concerns about Radiant projectCASPER — “I moved out here because it was a quiet community where our kids could run around and play.”…“Sometimes I don’t think [economic] growth is worth it, when it comes to the freedom you have to be a child,” Redmond said.…Current Wyoming law dictates that spent nuclear fuel can only be stored at an operating reactor location. Radiant does not plan to operate nuclear microreactors, so storing fuel would require a change to state law.…A survey conducted by the pollster Cygnal indicated that 70% of the 300 people surveyed in Natrona County support building this facility. The survey did not mention the waste storage facility and used unclear methodology.In contrast, a straw poll conducted at a town hall hosted by state Rep. Bill Allemand, R- Midwest, indicated that 93.75% of 64 people present were opposed to having the dry cask storage located near town. |
| June 2025 Radiant Energy / Natrona County Commission / City of Casper Documents, June 2025 |
| May 30, 2025 Radiant Blog post: Atoms For Prosperity: The Radiant Master Plan |
| May 26, 2025 Article: All Roads Lead to Wyoming: The Nuclear Blueprint No One Told You About |
| May 21, 2025 Radiant Energy Presentation to WSL Minerals Committee, May 2025 |
| May 7, 2025 Article: Uranium Energy Corp and Radiant Industries Announce Partnership |
| Apr 9, 2025 Article: DOE Commits HALEU to U.S. Advanced Reactor Developers |
| Apr 1, 2025
NRC pre-application documents |
| Mar 26, 2025 Article: Bar Nunn Locals Receptive To Build Micro Reactors, Not So Much Storing Spent Fuel …Locals seemed receptive to building the micro nuclear reactors there, but were more concerned about the spent nuclear fuel coming back to stay. Radiant Industries Inc. presented its proposed plans for the roughly 350,000-square-foot facility it hopes to start building near Barn Nunn next year and complete by 2028. …Radiant already has a letter of intent to buy a 130-acre plot of land in Natrona County and hopes to close on the land this summer.” |
| Dec 12, 2023 Radiant blog post: Radiant Receives $3.8M Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund Award [from Dept of Defense] |
| Oct 13, 2023
NRC pre-application documents |
| Aug 8, 2022
“About Us” posted at https://www.radiantnuclear.com/blog/about |
| May 16, 2019
RADIANT INDUSTRIES INCORPORATED |
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