Legal and Policy Advancements for Advanced Reactors
Happy New Year! As we start off 2019, we want to motive the nuclear community by sharing a few legal updates and popular reports that have come out around the end of the last year.
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In a development that could cause every advanced reactor startup to reexamine its growth strategy, the US government (USG) yesterday afternoon issued a new framework concerning exports to China, which largely closes the export market to advanced reactor companies.
The framework document, which is available here and was described to a limited audience in a…
Recently, the Hill has been taking a flurry of legislative actions that impact the advanced reactor community across all spectra. We provide a summary of some of the major bills going through Congress below, including a couple which have recently become law or may become so soon.
Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA) (S. 97).…
A recent headline in the energy trade press would not likely have caught the attention of the advanced nuclear industry: “Trump’s DOE punishes Obama-era solar success story.” A casual reader might quickly dismiss the story as indicative of a Trump Administration bias against renewable energy. The details reported in the story, however, convey a far…
On Sunday, the popular TV show Madam Secretary gave a starring role to the climate and security benefits of nuclear power. The episode, titled “Thin Ice,” which is still available on the CBS website, proffered a full-throated defense of the climate benefits of nuclear power, turned a grassroots activist organization into a supporter of…
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this week announced the award of approximately $60 million to 13 advanced reactor projects—the first under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) “U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development.” The 13 projects cover a diversity of steps in the commercialization process:
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The start of the month has proven to be an exciting one for nuclear innovation in D.C. A number of legal and regulatory activities have taken place which have implications for the next-generation nuclear industry, just a few of which are noted below. (And for those at the ARPA-E conference, see our blog author Amy…
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing February 6, 2018 to discuss the challenges facing America’s nuclear infrastructure, including advanced reactor development. The hearing was called “DOE Modernization: Advancing the Economic and National Security Benefits of America’s Nuclear Infrastructure.” A video of the hearing can be watched here.…
The Department of Energy (DOE) and Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) have issued a trio of reports touching on important issues for small modular and advanced reactors:
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On Wednesday, November 15, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff published a revised and final regulatory basis document in support of its rulemaking to reform emergency planning requirements for small modular and advanced reactors, including medical isotope reactors. This rulemaking promises to significantly reduce costs for next generation nuclear plants by employing individualized, risk-informed…
