Casper — Representatives and state senators pressed Radiant Industries on Thursday about transport safety, licensing timelines and the company’s local plans after the microreactor firm described a proposed factory and manufacturing timeline for compact, transportable reactors.

Radiant’s Matt Wilson, senior director of operations, told the Minerals, Business & Economic Development Committee the company has raised roughly $225 million and is planning a factory capital build of more than $300 million. Wilson said Radiant has letters of intent or MOUs for 25 reactors and is pursuing prototype testing and a DOE‑supported demonstration at Idaho National Laboratory.

“We believe we are going to be a piece of the American energy independence work that’s going forward,” Wilson said, describing Radiant’s goal to build a 1‑megawatt microreactor that fits within a single shipping container so customer‑site construction is minimal.

Committee members pressed the company on transport and accident scenarios. Representative Lisa Campbell asked whether Radiant’s design and its used‑fuel container have completed the regulatory impact tests — the 30‑foot drop, puncture, prolonged 800°C fire and immersion sequences used to demonstrate Type B package performance. Wilson said Radiant has built prototypes and conducted scale tests but has not completed NRC transport certification; he said radiance expects to pursue the required NRC licenses and that moving fueled reactors in commerce is still years away.

Several lawmakers raised local oversight and financial questions. Representative Lloyd Larson — who sponsored previous session language to allow on‑site storage for advanced reactors that refurbish and return to a factory site — said he supports a limited change to state law to permit manufacturers to store spent fuel used in their refueling cycle. Larson asked LSO and DEQ staff to work on draft bill language for committee consideration.

Lawmakers also asked about bonding and financial assurance in the event a firm abandons a site. Wilson said Radiant is pursuing a mix of private capital, potential DOE financing and bank loans; he said Radiant is not seeking direct state funding. Larson and other legislators said the state could require additional financial assurance as part of DEQ review of any site application.

Representative Cindy Knapp and others asked about workforce and siting choices; Radiant said it had evaluated several states and chose the Casper area in part because of local manufacturing talent and local uranium resources. Wilson said Radiant expects a base manufacturing employment level of roughly 75 people, rising at full scale to several hundred jobs.

Representative John Riggins asked whether Radiant’s fuel and its transportable units had undergone the same cooling and storage protocols used for conventional reactor fuel; Radiant said fuel qualification work is underway and that the company is in pre‑application engagement with NRC. Brian Fuller of the Legislative Service Office and NRC staff advised the committee that NRC reviews are application specific: vendors must submit designs and analyses before NRC will license transport or on‑site storage of new fuel types.

The committee set no formal votes but asked LSO to draft possible statutory language to allow limited on‑site storage for manufacturers — a narrower proposal than some earlier bills that sought consolidated interim storage for out‑of‑state spent fuel. Committee members said they expect further briefings, more technical documentation from Radiant, and public town hall sessions (Radiant said it would hold monthly town halls through the summer).