Funding for two nuclear power research projects with ties to Southwest Virginia has passed the U.S. House of Representatives, according to U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.
The Wise-based Energy DELTA Lab would receive about $1.4 million under the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2026.
“These important funds will help Energy DELTA Lab explore the potential to deploy advanced nuclear reactors on former mine lands,” Griffith said in a Thursday news release.
The Energy DELTA Lab is a technology testbed that aims to turn former coal mining sites in Southwest Virginia into energy innovation laboratories.
Virginia Tech would receive $1 million to “research modernized ways to enhance nuclear reactor system monitoring and safety,” Griffith said.
The appropriations bill now heads to the U.S. Senate ahead of a Jan. 30 federal government funding deadline.
The bill also includes more than $5 million for law enforcement and public safety radio communications projects in Bristol, the New River Valley and the counties of Craig, Dickenson and Franklin, Griffith said.
A separate appropriations bill that also passed the House on Thursday includes $750,000 for a sewer replacement project in Bedford.