The Mississippi Energy Institute, a nonprofit organization that provides insight into energy-related economic development, will pitch the idea this week that developing a storage facility for used nuclear plant fuel could provide a huge economic boost for the state.

With an eye on putting the nuclear waste in the underground salt domes in the southeast part of the state, the Energy Institute predicted that such a facility would require investments of more than $15 billion and 18,000 jobs during construction, and 5,000 more jobs for 50 years of operation.

Those are numbers worth considering. According to The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, officials with the research group were scheduled to make a presentation … to the state Senate Economic Development Committee. They were then to have a closed-door meeting with state business and political leaders.