SC Nexus director Christina Paradis presents South Carolina's DOE RFI response, cites $60 billion private‑investment potential

Christina Paradis, executive director of SC Nexus, told the Governor's Nuclear Advisory Council that South Carolina submitted its response to the U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear lifecycle innovation request for information on March 21 and expects DOE to identify states for follow‑on conversations by the end of April.

"We submitted our response on March 21 and have been communicating with the Department of Energy on those next steps," Paradis said. She described a six‑week sprint that collected asset information across the state — Port of Charleston, rail and highway networks, the Savannah River Site and Savannah River National Laboratory, South Carolina's technical college system and research universities, and existing nuclear generation — to show how the state could support an integrated nuclear life‑cycle campus.

Paradis said the state's response maps its resources to 17 initiatives named in the DOE RFI and rests on three pillars: innovating the back end of the fuel cycle (reprocessing, expanded waste storage and AI solutions for cleanup), leading secure reactor systems (cybersecurity and export readiness) and delivering national‑security‑aligned infrastructure. "This map also highlights railroads and highways," she said, noting private companies and stakeholders supplied data and over 35 letters of private‑sector support.

Why it matters: Paradis told the council the RFI response positions South Carolina to host new nuclear activity and supply‑chain investment. She cited a state‑level projection — based on the three pillars and DOE alignment — of 2–5 gigawatts of incremental nuclear capacity, about $60,000,000,000 of private investment to construct and operate, roughly 40,000 construction jobs and about 15,000 direct on‑site jobs at full maturity.

Council members pressed Paradis about the business case and gaps. When asked whether the state could address defense‑related inventories, Paradis said any linkage of defense materials into commercial proposals would be a negotiation item with DOE if South Carolina is selected. She highlighted the state's strongest assets but acknowledged a weakness: "The biggest weakness was on the front end when it came to the mining component of their uranium," Paradis said, noting that mining capacity is not currently an in‑state asset and that federal policy questions about final disposition would need to be resolved with DOE.

Next steps: Paradis said DOE is reviewing roughly 20–25 RFI responses and is likely to invite about five states to negotiations; DOE's own schedule — as relayed to the council — targets agreements by the end of the summer. If South Carolina is selected, Paradis said the state would engage negotiation teams to determine scope and possible multi‑state collaboration.

Paradis' presentation and the council's questions make clear the state is pitching a broad, asset‑based offer to DOE while flagging policy questions and front‑end limitations that would need federal answers before any on‑the‑ground deployment.