Big Richland Land Deal Could be Worth $3 Billion in Business

The City of Richland has signed off on a land purchase that could wind up giving big investments to the area.

   The 425 acre land deal involves big energy company

The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business reports the land deal, located at the formerly known Horn Rapid Industrial Park (now the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park, will likely result in a nuclear fuel processing company. The Richland City Council unanimously voted to approve the purchase at their January 7th meeting.

  According to the TCAJOB:

“Council members said they were impressed at the support for the project and the details of the deal. Washington Energy LLC would have up to five years to exercise its option to buy the land at Richland’s Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park, previously known as Horn Rapids Industrial Park, ostensibly to build a 1 million-square-foot facility devoted to nuclear fuel cycle processing.”

According to officials, the company’s goal is to build what’s called a nuclear supply chain campus, and the core would be its manufacturing plant.  The total investment would be in the area of $3 billion, and would create 1,000 jobs, and another 3,000 support positions.

Washington Energy appears to be a newer firm, the TCAJOB reports an entity by that name was incorporated in Delaware in November of 2024.

There would still be some hurdles to overcome, including permitting from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as a license and other steps