BATON ROUGE — The state of Louisiana and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed an agreement to further negotiations to participate in a federal program to host campuses that will support projects across multiple phases of nuclear power generation and application.

The agreement to enter the next phase in implementation of the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus initiative was announced by the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy announced Tuesday. 

The agreement would see select states host campuses that support activities across the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used nuclear fuel and disposition. 

The initiative will also allow Louisiana to deploy advanced reactors, power generators and advanced manufacturing facilities.

"I’m pleased to announce that after reviewing 28 applications from 26 states, the Energy Department has selected five initial contenders to further explore building Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses,” Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

Wright says that these campuses will be "massive generators of economic growth, create thousands of high-paying jobs, and be crucial to unleashing America’s nuclear renaissance."

Facilities could be hosted at sites in north, central and south Louisiana, officials added.

"The existing assets Louisiana has in energy, workforce and manufacturing can serve us well in adapting to the rising interest and investment in nuclear power," Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy Secretary Dustin Davidson said in a statement. "We’ve proven Louisiana is a contender in this national discussion, and we look forward to continuing the conversation."