The federal government wants to build a nuclear test reactor as part of an effort to revamp the nation’s fading nuclear power industry by developing safer fuel and power plants.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday said it will prepare an environmental impact statement as part of the process to build the test reactor in Idaho or Tennessee by 2025.

Federal officials say the test reactor is needed to speed up the development of accident-tolerant fuels that will be used by a new generation of nuclear power plants.

The Versatile Test Reactor would be the first new test reactor built in the United States in decades and give the nation a dedicated “fast-neutron-spectrum” testing capability. Such reactors are called fast reactors.

Public comments regarding the environmental impact statement are being taken through Sept. 4.