Article begins In a southwestern Virginia county, yellow yard signs, bumper stickers, and billboards pepper lawns, cars, and roadsides. They read, “Don’t Nuke SWVA” and were distributed by a coalition of grassroots organizations resisting local development plans for data centers that could be powered by small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). State bodies have targeted the Virginia coalfields for data centers and SMRs since at least 2022 when former governor  Glenn Youngkin announced that Virginia’s first SMR would be located there . Though Youngkin repealed this plan, funding continues to flood in for site assessment and nuclear workforce development. Credit: SWVA Nuclear Watch Facebook Page Yellow yard sign that reads “Don’t Nuke SWVA” Not all local government initiatives that residents believe to be tied to SMR development have been so explicit.…