Representative Jack Lademan moved that the Joint Energy Committee chairs write a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy requesting a meeting to discuss HCR 1,009 and “how it can be used to implement President Trump’s executive order” issued in May 2025 titled “Reinvigorating the nuclear industrial base.” Representative Beck seconded the motion and the committee approved the request by voice vote.

Senator Cliff Penzo, a co-sponsor, said members who visited Argonne National Laboratory on a recent trip saw “the process of how the recycling works” for spent nuclear fuel and argued the technology could greatly reduce long-term waste and recover usable uranium and rare-earth elements. Penzo described the technology discussed as “pyroprocessing,” a high-temperature process using molten salt that, he said, leaves mixed uranium/plutonium and therefore — he and others asserted — limits proliferation risk compared with pure‑plutonium separation.

Committee members who attended the Argonne visit described potential economic development, workforce and job-creation opportunities from recycling and reusing spent fuel or producing replacement reactor fuel. Representative Nazarekko (transcript), who also attended the trip, cited estimates discussed at the lab visit that a large share of original fuel energy remains in spent fuel assemblies and said the process could create more than 1,000 jobs in some applications.

Representative Torres asked whether the state's action could position Arkansas to access federal Department of Energy funding; Lademan and others said that was an objective. Senator Penzo and other members referenced the federal spent-fuel trust fund discussed in the meeting (a figure of about $51 billion was mentioned by a senator during debate) and said state engagement could help access federal programs.

Several members emphasized safety and regulatory concerns. Penzo and others said pyroprocessing is different from historical aqueous reprocessing and argued it reduces the volume and longevity of high‑level waste; they said the waste products from the described process would require management on the order of centuries rather than millennia. The committee did not adopt technical standards or authorize a recycling program; it authorized the committee chairs to request a meeting with the DOE to discuss HCR 1,009 and federal actions.

Why it matters: Federal policy and funding can determine which nuclear technologies and waste strategies are feasible for states. Committee members signaled interest in engaging federal officials now that the White House issued executive actions focused on the nuclear industrial base.

What happens next: Committee chairs will prepare a letter to the DOE secretary requesting a meeting to discuss the resolution and federal reports due under the president’s executive order; the committee asked to be included in early federal discussions.