West Virginia House approves bill to become NRC agreement state

The West Virginia Senate this week was to take up a bill passed last week by the state House of Representatives that would let Charleston regulate nuclear materials in cooperation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The House approved the bipartisan bill on Sept. 30 by a vote of 73-18, with nine members not voting. Rep. Roger Hanshaw (R), the speaker of the state House of Representatives, is the bill’s lead sponsor. Rep. Sean Hornbuckle (D), the minority leader, cosponsored the bill.

The Senate had not scheduled a vote on the bill as of Monday.

West Virginia in 2023 notified the NRC that Charleston would seek an agreement with the federal agency to regulate nuclear material at the state level. All but 12 U.S. states have such agreements with the commission. Some of those, including this year South Dakota, have passed their own laws to open the door for NRC agreements.

By federal law, agreement states must make their nuclear-materials regulations at least as strict as NRC regulations.