Memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy

The agreement signed on July 27, 2026, under which Oklahoma proceeds as a finalist for the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus program. Signed by Secretary of Energy Christopher A. Wright and Governor J. Kevin Stitt.

A memorandum of understanding is not a contract and not an approval. It sets out what each party will do while the selection is pending. This one states plainly that it obligates no money, creates no right anyone can sue over, and does not by itself authorize a single facility.

What it does do is commit both sides to negotiate a Host Agreement — the document that would actually govern a campus. The memorandum says what that agreement has to settle: how the campus is financed, what is built there, and the acceptance of used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from outside Oklahoma. It also says the Host Agreement is conditional on any new state and federal legislation the campus would need.

The division of responsibility is written down. The Department of Energy keeps regulatory oversight and its existing obligations for permanent disposal, and acts as Oklahoma’s interface with Congress and other federal agencies. Oklahoma handles permits, utilities, workforce and the state legislature’s part. Anything licensed at a campus would be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the memorandum states that the State of Oklahoma will not be the licensee.

The term is thirty years from the last signature. Either party may walk away if a Host Agreement is not executed by September 30, 2026.