Radiant pitches Casper site for factory of 1-megawatt microreactors; company, local leaders discuss jobs, safety and infrastructure support

Radiant (Radiant Nuclear) representatives told Casper City Council members and local economic-development officials that the company is evaluating a site north of Casper to build a factory that would assemble 1-megawatt microreactors and handle routine refueling and storage.

The company said the factory would be an advanced-manufacturing campus of roughly 350,000 square feet on more than 100 acres, initially create about 75 jobs and grow to about 250 at scale, and aim to produce about 50 reactor units per year in the mid-2030s. Radiant described each unit as roughly the size of a shipping container, about 12 by 12 by 40 feet, weighing “70 plus tons,” intended to run for about five years between refuelings.

Why it matters: Radiant’s plan drew attention from city and county economic-development staff because it promises local jobs and a manufacturing campus, but it also raises questions about permitting, long-term fuel storage, local infrastructure needs and how public funding might be used to extend utilities and roads to a remote site.

Radiant senior operations manager Kai Cartman said Wyoming made the company’s shortlist because of the state’s role in uranium mining, its energy-industry workforce and available land near Casper. “If most of the uranium in the country is coming from Wyoming, but all that uranium is being sent out of the state, it would be…