The GOP-controlled Kentucky Senate unanimously passed a bill Friday that would create a grant program to support nuclear energy development in the state, building off the establishment last year of a research authority dedicated to studying and supporting nuclear energy.

Senate Bill 179, sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, would allow the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Authority housed at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research to accept applications for grants supporting “the entire nuclear energy ecosystem” in Kentucky. Grants for projects could include radioisotope production, the siting of nuclear facilities, nuclear waste storage and the enrichment of nuclear fuel.