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HB 2205 would require the PSC to develop rules to govern the issuance of permits for construction, use and retirement of advanced nuclear reactors in West Virginia. The PSC would have to establish and enforce those rules by July 1, per the bill.

The legislation continues the Legislature’s ramping up pursuit of in-state nuclear power development in recent years and followed a nuclear developer’s pitch to state lawmakers last week that downplayed concerns about cost overruns that have plagued the company.

HB 2205’s passage followed a House floor debate in which the bill’s defenders characterized it as an economic development tool that would supplement rather than threaten the state’s long-declining coal industry to meet expected growth in energy demand.

“The math problem requires more coal, but the math problem also requires — if we’re going to enter into new markets, to be the battery of the East Coas — then we’re going to have to add something else,� Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, HB 2205’s lead sponsor, asserted in a House floor speech.

‘It helps the PSC regulate’

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, regulates the design, siting, construction and operation of new commercial nuclear power facilities.

“What this bill is really looking at doing is involving the PSC to address some of the concerns that have been brought up [like] how does this affect the consumption of electricity on the rest of the grid. Is this necessary? Is this something that we want in this particular area?� Steele said. “So it helps the PSC regulate, from that standpoint, not the actual regulation of the nuclear material or anything like that.�

One of the five House members voting against the bill, Delegate Henry Dillon, R-Wayne, indicated he was wary of nuclear energy’s role as a low-carbon option to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

“Is this the endgame for people who want to fully decarbonize the electrical grid?� Dillon asked. “Is this the endgame for people who don’t like certain states — which tend to be red states — which tend to derive quite a bit of their economic activity from coal, oil and gas?�

During a presentation before the House Energy and Public Works Committee last week, representatives of Westinghouse Electric Company framed nuclear energy as a way to meet increased power demand driven by electrification and lessen impacts of fossil fuel pricing volatility and renewable generation variability.

The Westinghouse representatives touted nuclear technology that included its AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which the company says can supply over 1 gigawatt of electricity to centralized power grids and has less safety-related piping than previous designs.

Westinghouse has two AP1000 units in commercial operation in Georgia the company says each generate enough electricity to power an estimated 500,000 households and businesses.

But reactor construction in Georgia was plagued by delay and cost overruns, eventually registering a $35 billion price tag roughly double the initial budget and coming online last year, seven years behind schedule.

Rita Baranwal, senior vice president of AP300 small modular reactors, told the committee a dormant supply chain for new nuclear construction projects and submission of its design to the NRC before it was complete drove the billions of dollars in cost overruns.

“I cannot tell you how tickled I am to see House Bill 2205 and the progress it has made with respect to West Virginia deploying new nuclear in the state,� Baranwal told the committee.

Legislature’s warmup to nuclear dates back to 2022

The West Virginia Legislature in 2022 repealed state code that frowned upon nuclear power.

Prior to that year’s , state code had held the use of nuclear fuel and power “poses an undue hazard to the health, safety and welfare� of West Virginians and banned nuclear facilities unless the proponent of a facility could prove “a functional and effective national facility, which safely, successfully and permanently disposes of radioactive wastes, has been developed.�

Last year, then-Gov. Jim Justice signed into law legislation allowing the state to take over regulation of certain radioactive materials from the NRC. HB 208 made West Virginia an “agreement state� with the NRC and established a state radiation regulatory system under the Department of Health.

Agreement states issue licenses, perform inspections and enforce safety regulations over academic, industrial and medical uses of radioactive material.

The NRC keeps regulatory authority over high-level waste handling and disposal, nuclear power plants, reactors and fuel cycle facilities.

The debate over West Virginia’s potential nuclear future has focused on small modular reactors — technology that isn’t market-ready.

These are advanced nuclear reactors capable of up to 300 megawatts of electrical output. They are designed to produce power, process heat and desalinate water on locations not suitable for larger nuclear plants while requiring less capital investment than bigger facilities.

Nuclear power creates radioactive waste such as uranium mill tailings and used reactor fuel that can stay radioactive and endanger human health for thousands of years.

The West Virginia Coal Association, West Virginia Citizen Action Group and West Virginia NAACP representatives were among those making cases against lifting state restrictions on nuclear power plant construction in 2022 through SB 4. West Virginia Climate Alliance, West Virginia Manufacturers Association and West Virginia Chamber of Commerce leadership spoke in support of lifting the restrictions.