On Monday evening, Congress passed a $900B omnibus spending bill, which contains, most importantly, relief measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also various authorizations and appropriations for FY2021, including $1.5 billion for fission and fusion energy programs. Title II of the Energy Act of 2020 (located at “Division Z” of the spending bill)
Advanced Nuclear Reactor
American Nuclear Infrastructure Act 2020 Safeguards the Future of Nuclear
Today U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA) 2020. The provisions of ANIA are intended to help ensure that the U.S. is competitive with countries like Russia and China on nuclear technology advancement and project development abroad. Among other…
Substantive Development of “Part 53” Kicks Off
The NRC staff is moving forward with development of the 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking, which will establish a new framework for licensing and regulating advanced nuclear reactors (and potentially also extending to fusion systems). The agency is taking a novel approach to rule development on an expedited schedule, including hosting frequent public meetings and…
Summer Updates on Advanced Reactors: New proposed nuclear legislation, updates on foreign investment, SMRs for moon and Mars
Draft legislation American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 set to provide further support for advanced reactors
On July 29th, Senator Barrasso (R-WY) introduced a draft bill, the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 (ANIA), which, aims to re-establish U.S. international competitiveness and global leadership in nuclear power. Among other things, the draft bill would—
- Empower
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US Government Proposes to Lift Ban on Financing Nuclear Energy Projects Overseas
The United States has been struggling to compete with its peers in securing nuclear power plant construction projects around the world. One of the factors impacting U.S. competitiveness is that many foreign countries such as Russia and China can obtain government financing to support foreign projects—whereas U.S. vendors cannot. Under a recent proposal, this imbalance…
NRC, DOE, and Congress Move on Advanced Reactors in May
The latter half of May has seen regulatory initiatives benefiting advanced reactors promoted across the government. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) affirmed new guidance on non-light water reactor (non-LWR) methodologies, and the Department of Energy (DOE) showed support for a new, streamlined emergency preparedness framework for small modular reactors (SMRs) and new reactor technologies. …
Your Input Needed: NRC Publishes Proposed Rule on Emergency Preparedness for SMRs/ONTs
Yesterday the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published its proposed rule to revise its Emergency Preparedness (EP) requirements for small modular reactors (SMRs) and other new technologies (ONT, such as advanced reactors). Comments for the proposed rule and accompanying guidance are due on July 27, 2020.
These amendments have been a long time coming,…
Thanksgiving Reading – Fall Advanced Reactor Developments
In time for the Thanksgiving long weekend, we want to draw your attention to a number of interesting reports on advanced reactor developments that have come out over the past couple months:
- Most recently, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) issued a thoughtful white paper on regulatory and licensing issues for micro-reactors, in advance of the
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NRC Considers GEIS for Advanced Reactors – Your Input Needed!
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held two public meetings on November 15th and 20th to solicit feedback as to whether to compile a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the construction and operation of advanced reactors. GEISs have the potential to materially reduce the licensing burden on NRC advanced reactor applicants, given that…
Nuclear Innovation Alliance Publishes Two Papers on Streamlining NRC Licensing Reviews for Advanced Reactors
The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) late last week published two papers on recommendations for addressing regulatory challenges related to advanced reactor licensing:
- Nuclear Innovation and NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act)
- Establishing Interface Requirements for “Major Portions” Standard Design Approvals
The blog authors had the pleasure of…