Wyoming’s uranium industry just got an international boost — and this time, the momentum is coming from Taiwan’s race to power the AI economy

The Cowboy State, already riding a wave of renewed nuclear investment, signed a new agreement with Taiwan focused on modular nuclear reactors, a move that could deepen Wyoming’s role in the global energy supply chain. For a state rich in uranium and increasingly tied to advanced nuclear development, industry leaders say the timing couldn’t be better.

“This deal bodes well for Wyoming,” Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Travis Deti said.

The agreement links Wyoming with one of the world’s most strategically important economies. Taiwan produces roughly 90% of the globe’s most advanced semiconductor chips, and the island’s exploding AI and tech sectors are driving an urgent search for stable, low-carbon electricity.

Taiwan officials say energy demand could jump more than sixfold over the next three years as AI infrastructure expands. That surge has pushed President Lai Ching-te to revisit nuclear energy, including the possible restart of two reactors despite opposition from anti-nuclear groups.

In remarks translated during the announcement, Lai described Wyoming as a natural partner because of its strengths in critical minerals and low-carbon energy technology.

“We face supply-chain restructuring and the challenges brought by the AI era,” Lai said. “Energy security and industrial resilience have become issues of global concern.”

The agreement builds on an already growing relationship between Wyoming and Taiwan. Last year, the Wyoming Energy Authority and Taiwan Association of Quantum Computing and Information Technology signed a memorandum centered on quantum computing collaboration.

Now nuclear energy is taking center stage.

Wyoming’s uranium sector has been heating up for months as companies position themselves to support next-generation reactor projects, including TerraPower’s plant in Kemmerer and BWXT’s planned fuel manufacturing facility in Gillette.

Deti said interest in Wyoming uranium is moving so fast it’s hard to keep track.

“We’re seeing a lot of exploration,” he said. “We’re seeing new companies coming in and looking at the resource to develop it.”

Production is already climbing. Companies including Uranium Energy Corp., Ur-Energy, Strata Energy, Cameco Resources and Energy Fuels produced more than 474,000 pounds of uranium in 2025.

Still, industry veterans point out that current production is nowhere near Wyoming’s historical highs. During the uranium boom of the 1970s, the state produced roughly 12 million pounds annually. Even in 2015, output hit 2.6 million pounds.

That gap, Deti argues, shows just how much room there is for expansion.

And AI is a major reason why.

Massive data centers and advanced computing facilities are consuming unprecedented amounts of electricity, creating demand for every available energy source — including nuclear.

“The energy demand is going to be there,” Deti said. “We’re going to need everything we can get. That means coal, oil and gas, and it means nuclear.”

Taiwan’s interest in Wyoming extends beyond uranium mining.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office science and technology director Hong Wei Yen said earlier this year that Taiwan is eager to strengthen energy partnerships with Wyoming because the island imports about 90% of its energy. That dependency makes energy security a constant concern.

Taiwan is also studying Wyoming’s work in carbon capture, storage and utilization technologies, particularly projects tied to the Integrated Test Center in Gillette.

But perhaps the biggest opportunity could come from semiconductor manufacturing.

Taiwan reportedly has plans to invest as much as $250 billion in American chip production, and officials see Wyoming as a possible future partner in that effort.

At the same time, Taiwan believes it can offer Wyoming technological expertise of its own, particularly in smart manufacturing and automation systems that could help address labor shortages in industries ranging from agriculture to energy.

The modular reactor agreement was announced during Gov. Mark Gordon’s trade mission to Taiwan. It was one of three agreements signed between the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources and Taiwanese research institutions, including the National Central University and National Atomic Research Institute.

Gordon has consistently pushed a strategy focused less on government-directed industrial policy and more on making Wyoming attractive for advanced energy investment. That means streamlining permits, building workforce programs and turning Wyoming into a proving ground for emerging energy technologies.

The state is already serving as a testing site for carbon-capture projects and advanced reactor development. Supporters believe the Taiwan partnership could help Wyoming move further up the value chain — exporting technology and reactor components, not just raw uranium.

But for Deti, the bottom line remains simple.

“The more uranium we mine, the more jobs we create, the more revenue we generate for the state,” he said. “If we’re building more reactors — small reactors, microreactors or conventional reactors — they all need fuel. And that fuel can come from Wyoming.”