Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds hearing to discuss Nuclear Energy Leadership Act

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently held a hearing to discuss the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, a bill that would launch a long-term collaborative effort between the federal government and the nuclear industry to reestablish America’s global leadership in commercial nuclear technology.

“I have long been concerned that here in this country we are ceding our place as a global leader in nuclear power,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said. “We’ve got competitors with China, with Russia who are moving forward with advanced nuclear technologies and we’ve been slow to come together around any form of a coherent strategy.”

The bill (S. 3422) would also extend the maximum length of federal power purchase agreements from 10 to 40 years. Such an extension would benefit the nuclear industry because initial capital costs for reactors are paid for more than 10 years.

The legislation calls for the federal government to be an early adopter of new technologies that increase electric reliability and resilience. It directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to construct a fast neutron-capable research facility to test advanced reactor components and materials and to accelerate innovation. It also establishes a program to provide a minimum amount of high-assay low-enriched uranium, which is required by many advanced reactor concepts but isn’t commercially available in the United States.

“The nuclear industry supports this legislation and hopes that Congress will act swiftly when they return in January to pass this bipartisan measure into law,” Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) President and CEO Maria Korsnick said.

Sens. Murkowski, Cory Booker (D-NJ), James Risch (R-ID), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the bill.