Policy

As the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit kicked off this week, President Biden’s administration laid out plans to add 200 GW of nuclear power in the next 25 years through a combination of new reactor deployment, plant restarts, and upgrades at existing sites.

The added nuclear would triple the nation’s current capacity, which stands at around 100 GW.

The new U.S. road map—Safely and Responsibly Expanding U.S. Nuclear Energy: Deployment Targets and a Framework for Action—calls the deployment goals “ambitious but achievable,” including a short-term plan to jumpstart the domestic industry, adding 35 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.

Legislative proposals focused on streamlining the U.S. nuclear energy export process have circulated on Capitol Hill for several years, notably aimed at establishing a single point of contact in the government to simplify global nuclear projects.

The most recently introduced International Nuclear Energy Act (INEA) proposal (S. 826) promotes engagement with partner nations to develop a civil nuclear export strategy and to offset China’s and Russia’s growing influence on international nuclear energy development.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on a proposed rule for a generic environmental impact statement for licensing new reactors. According to the NRC, the statement uses a technology-neutral framework and plant/site parameters to identify environmental issues common to new reactors as well as those issues needing project-specific analysis.

U.S. Reps. Mike Levin (D., Calif.) and August Pfluger (R., Texas) have introduced the bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2024, which would establish an independent agency to manage the country’s nuclear waste.

In addition to establishing a new, single-purpose administration to manage the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the bill would direct a consent-based siting process for nuclear waste facilities and ensure reliable funding for managing nuclear waste by providing access to the Nuclear Waste Fund. According to Pfluger and Levin, the bill’s provisions are in line with recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

Heinrich

Cruz

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.) introduced a bill that would require the Department of Energy and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to create an independent committee of experts to study new technologies and opportunities for recycling the country’s inventory of spent nuclear fuel.

Introduced on September 24, the Advancing Research in Nuclear Fuel Recycling Act calls for a DOE-commissioned study evaluating the costs, benefits, and risks—including proliferation—of recycling U.S. spent nuclear fuel into usable fuels for commercial and advanced reactors, as well as for other nonreactor applications, including medical, space, industrial, and advanced battery applications.

Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member Board of Governors for the 2024–2025 term. The election took place on September 19 at the plenary session of the 68th IAEA General Conference.

The American Nuclear Society recently selected two of its members to serve as the 2025 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows. The 2025 Congressional Fellows, Jacob Christensen and Mike Woosley, will help the Society fulfill its strategic goal of enhancing nuclear policy by working in the halls of Congress, either in a congressional member’s personal office or with a committee, when their fellowship term begins in January.

The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Chevron doctrine marks a significant shift in the landscape of federal decision-making. For more than 40 years, this doctrine has provided a framework wherein courts deferred to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous laws in recognition of the specialized expertise these agencies bring to policy and regulatory development.

This year, the U.S. nuclear industry received a much-needed economic boost that could help preserve operating nuclear power plants and incentivize upgrades that extend their lifespan and power output.

Signed into law in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers production tax credits (PTCs) for existing nuclear power plants and either PTCs or investment tax credits (ITCs) for new carbon-free generation. These credits could make power uprates—increasing the maximum power level at which a commercial plant may operate—a much more appealing option for utilities.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the best time to enhance the ability to support operations and maintenance for a new plant is before construction starts. This is one of many lessons learned by the currently operating nuclear fleet. As construction and startup of many nuclear facilities was completed, it quickly became evident that the ability to efficiently support operations and maintenance was limited. Most of the information necessary to establish and manage procurement of spare and replacement items, maintenance, and configuration of the facilities was unavailable and had to be gathered on a case-by-case, “on-demand” basis. Absence of necessary information and the associated challenges resulted in the need for staff augmentation and multiyear-long projects to develop equipment bills of material and maintenance programs and to perform technical evaluations for the huge quantities of spare and replacement items being requested.

Bradley Williams

The United States is already off to a good start with respect to new nuclear deployment. The completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the Natrium groundbreaking, and X-energy’s partnership with Dow Chemical to deploy an advanced reactor for industrial applications are all important first steps. These efforts are being complemented by the flurry of licensing activity with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and overwhelming support in Congress and the White House. But to achieve the current administration’s goal of tripling nuclear capacity by 2050, more needs to be done.

Doug Lawrence

As the United States intensifies its efforts to combat climate change and transition to a low-carbon energy future, the role of nuclear energy has never been more critical.

One key strategy in this transition is the subsequent license renewal (SLR) of our existing nuclear power plants, allowing them to operate for up to 80 years. This extension brings several significant benefits.

Continued low-carbon energy production—By extending the life of existing nuclear power plants, we ensure a steady supply of low-carbon energy, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and helping meet our nation’s emission reduction targets. Given that nuclear power currently provides nearly 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply and more than half of its low-carbon electricity, maintaining this capacity is vital for a sustainable energy future.

The Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship offers American Nuclear Society members a unique opportunity to directly support public policy. By supporting nuclear experts through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship Program, ANS provides a path for its members to help advance nuclear policy and ensure a brighter, nuclear-powered future.

The U.S. Senate’s proposed Department of the Interior funding package provides $250,000 to develop a generic, technology-neutral standard for future high-level nuclear waste disposal facilities.

The goal is for the Environmental Protection Agency to use modern and international practices in creating new plans to store U.S. nuclear waste. This spring, the EPA had requested $635,000 to fund this work—but even the proposed $250,000 would help get the process moving.

So far, funding has been included only in the Senate’s version of the appropriations bill, but supporters hope it makes the final package when Senate and House lawmakers conference on the final fiscal year 2025 appropriations legislation this fall.

For more details, see the original story below from June 28.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is simplifying procedures for mandatory hearings on licensing commercial nuclear power plants and uranium enrichment facilities.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking qualified candidates for open positions on its Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards.

The European Commission has issued a positive opinion on the technical and nuclear safety aspects of the construction of Units 3 and 4 at Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania.

Under the Euratom Treaty, nuclear project developers are required to notify the EC of planned investments and to demonstrate compliance with the highest nuclear safety standards.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have signed a revised memorandum of understanding establishing a framework for the agencies to cooperate on emergency preparedness for commercial nuclear power plants.

Dutton

The only nuclear reactor in Australia is a small one in the Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights, which has been used to produce medical radioisotopes since 1958. Recently, the Hon. Peter Dutton, Parliament’s leader of the opposition to the Labor-led government, announced his plan to get the country into the nuclear energy business by building five large reactors and two small modular reactors by 2050.

Criticizing the government’s “renewables-only” energy policy, Dutton promised to have the first nuclear reactor operating by the mid-2030s, should his Liberal–National Coalition win power in the next federal election (to be held on or before September 27, 2025). That promise, which would require overturns of existing federal and state bans on nuclear energy, has generated a great deal of controversy in Australia among government officials, political activists, and nuclear engineers.

The American Nuclear Society brought together 11 other energy and environmental advocacy organizations in calling on Congress to fund the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a new, technology-neutral, generic environmental standard for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States.

In a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees, the groups ask for an additional $3 million in fiscal year 2025 for the EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air to work on the new standard.