The owners of the two-unit Hatch nuclear power plant are hoping to operate the facility for up to 80 years. Southern Nuclear submitted its application this month to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a subsequent license renewal for the dual-unit plant in Baxley, Ga.

The SLR seeks to extend the operating licenses of both boiling water reactors at Hatch from 60 to 80 years. The NRC approved the plant’s first 20-year license renewal in January 2002, which extended Unit 1’s license through August 6, 2034, and Unit 2’s through June 13, 2038.

It’s been a busy eight months, Mike King told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a recent hearing on the immediate and projected impacts of new federal legislation aimed at supporting the nation’s current nuclear energy renaissance.

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

This year's ANS Conference on Nuclear Training and Education (CONTE), held in early February, tackled emerging approaches to nuclear skills and the workforce. How do we attract, retain, and qualify our future professionals? What technologies will enhance teaching and assessment methods?

In 2024, the Department of Energy called the following developments “wins for nuclear energy”:

• Vogtle-4 had its commercial start.
• The ADVANCE Act to accelerate deployment of advanced reactors.
• Reactor recommissioning announcements and collaborations with tech companies.
• Growing our domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and expanding domestic capacity by 200 GW.
• Demonstration projects such as Natrium, Project Pele, and Hermes.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is gearing up to tackle an influx of licensing requests and oversight of advanced nuclear reactor technology, especially small modular reactors.

Following the release of a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the future of advanced nuclear reactors in the United States, experts in policymaking, finance, regulation, community engagement, and energy technologies convened a workshop recently on how a safe and secure foundation for the nuclear industry going forward can be laid.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is looking for feedback on its proposed rule for fees for fiscal year 2025. The proposal was published in the February 19 Federal Register. The federal government's fiscal year is the 12-month period from October 1 to September 30.

The proposed rule includes instructions on how to submit written comments to the NRC. Comments will be accepted through March 21, 2025.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a new mission statement to formalize the agency’s pledge to “be a part of the solution” in bringing new nuclear energy projects to life across the country.

Advanced nuclear reactor company Last Energy joined with two Republican state attorneys general in a lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arguing that some microreactors should not require the commission’s approval.

Marzano

Matthew Marzano became the newest member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when he was officially sworn into office by chair Christopher Hanson this week.

The nuclear engineer and former reactor operator was confirmed last month in a 50–45 vote in the U.S. Senate. Last July, President Biden nominated Marzano to serve on the commission, which is tasked with formulating policies, developing regulations, issuing orders, and resolving legal matters.

Marzano’s term expires June 30, 2028.

A nuclear engineer, former reactor operator, and nuclear navy educator earned U.S. Senate approval today to take a seat on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Matthew Marzano was confirmed in a 50–45 vote in the Senate and steps into an existing five-year term that will expire June 30, 2028. He joins the five-member commission, which has been without a tiebreaker vote since June 2023, when Jeff Baran’s term expired.

Marzano brings more than a decade of industry experience both working in nuclear plants and advising energy policy on Capitol Hill.

Marzano

The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 10–9 last week to advance the nomination of Matthew Marzano to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was a party-line vote, with all Democrats supporting Marzano and all Republicans voting “no.”

Marzano was nominated by President Biden in July to fill the open NRC seat, and the EPW Committee held a hearing in September on his nomination. His nomination will now go to the Senate for a vote, but it is not certain whether that will happen before the end of the year, in which case his nomination process would start over in 2025.

The five-member commission has been without a tiebreaker vote since June 2023 when Jeff Baran’s term expired.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will host a “comment-gathering meeting” for stakeholders involved with the agency’s University Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP) so that NRC staff can understand their views and concerns.

As part of its implementation of the ADVANCE Act, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on September 26 that it will periodically hold public meetings on the legislation, which was signed into law on July 9.

Information about these meetings can be found on the NRC website at least 10 days before each meeting.

The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee spent more than an hour questioning Matthew Marzano on Wednesday as part of his nomination process to become a commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Marzano

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works will consider the nomination of Matthew Marzano to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during a hearing on Wednesday, September 11.

In July, President Joe Biden named Marzano as his choice to fill the open seat on the five-member commission. The NRC, the nation’s independent regulator of civilian nuclear safety, has been without a tiebreaker for votes among the four current members since commissioner Jeff Baran’s term ended in June 2023.

The NRC has been in the spotlight in recent years as the United States experiences a resurgence in demand for and technology advances in nuclear power. The commission is facing a high volume of license requests and is working to modernize and streamline its review process.

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

Duck, N.C.—A summer beach vacation with the extended family: There’s nothing else quite like it, reliving old memories and developing a greater appreciation for how others felt about them at that moment. One particular topic came up at our multigenerational dinner the other night: “Describe your experience of riding on a two-wheel bike for the first time.”

Among the Gen Z crowd at the table, we heard stories of stitched up chins and falls into prickly bushes. However, despite a few harrowing starts, all are now confident twentysomething cyclists with no residual trauma.

The parents’ recollections of events seemed more sober. After all, there are few parental experiences more fraught than teaching your child to ride a two-wheeled bike. It’s as scary as it is unavoidable.

Lisa Marshall
president@ans.org

Energy is the foundation of modern society. It enhances quality of life and drives industrialization. As we work toward fuller energy transition, policies are essential to organizing our march forward. Bipartisan legislation is doing just that, propelling our current and future actions.

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act will help propel the work of industry, academia, and several branches of government in exciting—and necessary—directions.

The Senate introduced the act in March 2023, and the House of Representatives passed the Fire Grants and Safety Act, which incorporated the ADVANCE Act, on May 9, 2024 (393–13). Then on June 18, the Senate passed the ADVANCE Act (88–2), and on July 9, President Biden signed the bill into law. New and revised approaches to process and deployment of nuclear energy capacity is well on its way. Below, I have highlighted a few title sections to show scope and significance.

Marzano

President Biden has selected Matthew Marzano as his choice to fill the open seat on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The panel of commissioners has had a vacancy since Jeff Baran’s term as commissioner ended in June 2023.

Marzano currently serves as an Idaho National Laboratory detailee for the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, advising EPW on policy matters relating to clean air, climate, and energy. Most recently, he advised the committee’s chairman on the ADVANCE Act, legislation designed to prepare the NRC for an expected surge in new nuclear reactor oversight.

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, sending legislation that would make sweeping changes to the approval process for new technology in the nuclear energy sector to President Biden for final approval.

The legislation passed with an overwhelming majority in the Senate—the vote was 88–2—having cleared the House of Representatives in May.

A Government Accountability Office report released last week on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s preparedness to review and approve advanced reactor applications finds—to scant surprise from nuclear advocates—room for improvement.

The 48-page report, Nuclear Power: NRC Needs to Take Additional Actions to Prepare to License Advanced Reactors, had been requested in February 2022 by two prominent Capitol Hill supporters of the technology—Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R., W.Va.), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.