Public Policy & Engagement

Proposed nuclear energy legislation with bipartisan support earned the attention of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday morning.

Subject-matter experts and the chief sponsors of the legislation shared details on three items at a hearing Wednesday before the EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety: the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act—introduced just last week—and discussion drafts of the Revitalizing Energy Communities by Hosting Advanced Reactors and Generating Energy (RECHARGE) Act and Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act.

Lawmakers in Congress have introduced a pair of bills this month targeting different aspects of nuclear construction, with one proposal focusing on construction material and the other on tax credits.

Last month, all five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission went before the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce’s Energy Subcommittee to discuss the agency’s fiscal year 2027 budget and share priorities and activities key to the agency.

On Wednesday, the five took the NRC’s $892.3 million budget request for FY 2027 to the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, where the focus shifted more toward the attrition of NRC employees and attempts to recruit and retain.