Cheyenne — A Wyoming legislator who visited European fuel‑cycle facilities reported to the Minerals, Business & Economic Development Committee that France’s reprocessing operations and the TRISO fuel form are examples U.S. policymakers are watching as the country considers next steps for spent fuel management.

Senator Ed Cooper, returning from industry briefings, told the committee “TRISO is the fuel of the future,” and described a December visit to France where he saw Orano’s reprocessing operations and learned that France returns only a small volume of vitrified high‑level waste after reprocessing. Cooper said reprocessing recovers material that could be reused for power production and that other countries are advancing reprocessing capacity and fuel‑cycle services.

NRC Region 4 liaison Ryan Alexander had earlier described the range of new fuel forms under NRC review and noted that “triso manufacturing capability now exists in The US though it’s, not fully entered into large scale commercial use yet.” Idaho National Laboratory’s Daniel Thomas added that the U.S. has legacy TRISO shipments and research inventory; he said much TRISO‑type material is held at INL for testing and work.

Lawmakers also asked about HALEU (high‑assay, low‑enriched uranium) needed by some advanced reactor designs. Representative Lloyd Larson and Radiant representatives said the Department of Energy recently allocated some HALEU to selected companies; Radiant said an allotment helped advance its fuel procurement planning but that full fuel qualification and NRC review remain on the company’s path.

Committee members did not act on policy changes during the session. Legislators asked for more technical follow‑up and said they would monitor federal and international activity on reprocessing and TRISO fuel while the state considers limited statutory changes to accommodate advanced reactor manufacturers.