Sens. Manchin, Risch introduce International Nuclear Energy Act
U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jim Risch (R-ID) introduced legislation establishing an Executive Office for Nuclear Energy Policy to promote engagement with allies to develop a civil nuclear export strategy.
The International Nuclear Energy Act of 2022 would also offset China and Russia’s growing influence on international nuclear energy development.
“We must not turn a blind eye as China and Russia aggressively use their state-owned and operated civil nuclear programs as coercive tools to the detriment of other nations’ energy security and our global nonproliferation efforts. The United States must be proactive in confronting these geopolitical threats, not only for our national security but also for the entire free world,” Manchin said. “Our bipartisan bill establishes an Office for Nuclear Energy Policy to engage with our allies and industry partners to offset Chinese and Russian influence and reduce our reliance on nuclear fuels from these and other adversarial nations.”
The proposed office for Nuclear Energy Policy would coordinate civil nuclear exports strategy, establish financing relationships, promote regulatory harmonization, enhance safeguards and security, promote standardization of licensing framework, and create an exports working group. It would also require two biennial summits, one focused on nuclear safety, security, and safeguards, and another for civil nuclear vendors to enhance relationships between private industry and government.
Further, it would establish a Strategic Infrastructure Fund Working Group to determine how to best structure a fund to finance projects critical to national security. In addition, it would create fast-track procedures for deemed civil nuclear exports for countries defined by the Secretary of Energy, expand the Export-Import Bank program on Transformational Exports to include civil nuclear facilities and related goods, and create the U.S. Nuclear Fuels Security Initiative to reduce reliance on Chinese and Russian nuclear fuels.
“Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has only highlighted the importance of energy security. This bill takes significant steps to re-establish American leadership in nuclear energy, both at home and abroad, which is critical to ensuring the security of energy supplies for ourselves and our allies, global standards for nonproliferation, and other national security interests, and economic growth,” Risch said. “This bill also seeks to ensure we can provide nuclear energy solutions to countries that might otherwise pursue Russian or Chinese nuclear plants.”
