Policy


Legislators look to advance nuclear power in the Lone Star State

February 14, 2025, 9:30AMNuclear News

Texas lawmakers are considering legislative action this session on recommendations made last November by the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group.

Senate Bill 1105 calls for the establishment of a state-run advanced nuclear energy authority, a state permitting office, and an advanced nuclear innovation fund. Republican state Sen. Tan Parker introduced the bill.

Nuclear footprint: Texas currently has two large nuclear plants—Commanche Peak and South Texas Project—comprising four reactors that supplied nearly 10 percent of the state’s power last year.

Small modular reactors are also planned in Texas. Dow Chemical and X-energy are targeting a cluster of SMRs to support Dow’s manufacturing site in Seadrift on the Gulf Coast. At Abeline Christian University, about 200 miles west of Dallas, Natura Resources plans to install a test reactor using molten-salt cooling.

An open letter to Chris Wright

February 6, 2025, 3:05PMNuclear NewsCraig Piercy

Craig Piercy
cpiercy@ans.org

Dear Secretary Wright:

On behalf of the U.S. nuclear professional community, I offer our sincere congratulations to you on your becoming the secretary of energy.

By now, I’m sure you have figured out that “Department of Energy” is a misnomer. If the Department of Government Efficiency ever requires truth in advertising, the DOE should be renamed the “Department of Nuclear Weapons, Security, Cleanup, and Sundry Energy and Science Programs.” That’s because more than 60 percent of the DOE’s budget is dedicated to “atomic energy defense activities”—making sure our nuclear bombs work, our aircraft carriers and submarines sail, and our Cold War messes get cleaned up.

U.S. may help bring nuclear energy to El Salvador

February 5, 2025, 9:39AMNuclear News
El Salvador foreign minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco and U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio signed a nuclear energy MOU. (Photo: X)

Officials from the United States and the Republic of El Salvador signed a memorandum of understanding Monday, agreeing to cooperate on strategic civil nuclear development.

In one of his first acts in office, U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio signed the MOU with El Salvadoran foreign minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco during his recent visit.

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Ohio bill would designate nuclear energy as “green”

December 20, 2024, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe

DeWine

State legislation that designates nuclear power as “green energy” and expands oil/natural gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking) leases on state land was forwarded this week to the desk of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. The Republican governor has 10 days after receiving House Bill 308 to either sign it into law or veto it. A “green” designation would imply state recognition that nuclear energy causes no harm to the natural environment.

Pro arguments: In its coverage of the bill, Spectrum News quoted Greg Lawson, a research fellow at the Buckeye Institute, as defending nuclear energy. “Nuclear energy is zero carbon emission, and from that standpoint, it certainly addresses a lot of the concerns that folks have when they’re concerned about what happens to the climate. . . . Right now, Ohio is facing a real challenge. We’ve got a lot of data centers coming into Ohio. This is a massive issue. These things consume just incredible amounts of electricity,” Lawson said.

Modeling the change: Commissioner Wright leads by example as the NRC faces its future

December 20, 2024, 7:01AMNuclear News

David Wright

There is a modern-day parable that NRC commissioner David Wright likes to reflect on from time to time, the story of a janitor on a mission. On a visit to NASA in the 1960s, or so the story goes, amid all the action and excitement and VIPs, President Kennedy stopped a janitor who was pushing his broom down the hallway. Kennedy asked the man what he was doing and he said, “Well, I’m putting a man on the moon.”

Wright believes people—all the people—are how jobs get done. And the people of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have a very big job ahead of them. Whether it is meeting the requirements of the ADVANCE Act, bringing 10 CFR Part 53 closer to the finish line, or working with its counterparts in other countries toward climate goals and international agreements, the NRC is moving mountains, one sweep of the broom at a time.

Bipartisan Nuclear REFUEL Act introduced in the U.S. House

December 12, 2024, 7:00AMNuclear News

Peters

Latta

To streamline the licensing requirements for nuclear fuel recycling facilities and help increase investment in nuclear energy in the United States, U.S. Reps. Bob Latta (R., Ohio) and Scott Peters (D., Calif.) have introduced the bipartisan Nuclear REFUEL Act in the House of Representatives.

The bill, introduced on December 6, would amend the definition of “production facility” in the Atomic Energy Act, clarifying that a reprocessing facility producing uranium-transuranic mixed fuel would be licensed only under 10 CFR Part 70. According to the lawmakers, this single-step licensing process would significantly streamline the licensing requirements for fuel recycling facilities.

U.S. unveils road map to triple nuclear capacity by 2050

November 13, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

As the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit kicked off this week, President Biden’s administration laid out plans to add 200 GW of nuclear power in the next 25 years through a combination of new reactor deployment, plant restarts, and upgrades at existing sites.

The added nuclear would triple the nation’s current capacity, which stands at around 100 GW.

The new U.S. road mapSafely and Responsibly Expanding U.S. Nuclear Energy: Deployment Targets and a Framework for Action—calls the deployment goals “ambitious but achievable,” including a short-term plan to jumpstart the domestic industry, adding 35 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035.

U.S. lawmakers look to simplify export control to grow international nuclear partners

October 22, 2024, 3:00PMNuclear News

Legislative proposals focused on streamlining the U.S. nuclear energy export process have circulated on Capitol Hill for several years, notably aimed at establishing a single point of contact in the government to simplify global nuclear projects.

The most recently introduced International Nuclear Energy Act (INEA) proposal (S. 826) promotes engagement with partner nations to develop a civil nuclear export strategy and to offset China’s and Russia’s growing influence on international nuclear energy development.

NRC seeks comments on proposed rule for new reactors

October 8, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on a proposed rule for a generic environmental impact statement for licensing new reactors. According to the NRC, the statement uses a technology-neutral framework and plant/site parameters to identify environmental issues common to new reactors as well as those issues needing project-specific analysis.

Bipartisan nuclear waste bill introduced in U.S. House

September 26, 2024, 11:39AMRadwaste Solutions

U.S. Reps. Mike Levin (D., Calif.) and August Pfluger (R., Texas) have introduced the bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2024, which would establish an independent agency to manage the country’s nuclear waste.

In addition to establishing a new, single-purpose administration to manage the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the bill would direct a consent-based siting process for nuclear waste facilities and ensure reliable funding for managing nuclear waste by providing access to the Nuclear Waste Fund. According to Pfluger and Levin, the bill’s provisions are in line with recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.