Manchin supports nuclear provisions in Biden’s Build Back Better plan

January 14, 2022, 3:25PMANS Nuclear Cafe

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) has been in the news over the past week—and that’s good news for the nuclear community. Last week, The Hill reported on Manchin’s support for climate action, and according to Bloomberg News this week, Manchin is “big on nuclear” and supports the tax credits for nuclear power plants included in the administration’s Build Back Better plan.

Build Back Better: Manchin shot down Biden’s plan in December by announcing that he would vote against the BBB bill as it was written, but he is clearly willing to move forward with certain provisions in the bill. One area that Manchin is willing to review are the environmental provisions in Biden’s BBB. According to The Hill, Manchin said, “The climate thing is one that we probably can come to an agreement much easier than anything else. There’s a lot of good things in there. We have a lot of money in there for innovation, technology, tax credits for basically clean technologies and a clean environment.”

The tax credit: The tax credit included in the BBB plan opens the current 1.5 cent/kilowatt hour credit proposed for wind production to nuclear power plant owners. According to the Bloomberg article, Manchin wants the tax credit for nuclear plants to last for 10 years, four years longer than in the draft bill.


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