US Senate passes bill to support ‘next generation’ nuclear energy deployment

The US Senate on Tuesday (18 June) passed a bill to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy capacity, including by speeding permitting and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies.

Expanding nuclear power has broad bipartisan support, with Democrats seeing it as critical to decarbonizing the power sector to fight climate change and Republicans viewing it as a way to ensure reliable electricity supply and create jobs.

A version of the bill had already passed in the House of Representatives and it will now go to President Joe Biden for a signature to become law. It passed the Senate by 88-2 votes.

“In a major victory for our climate and American energy security, the US Senate has passed the ADVANCE Act with overwhelming, bipartisan support,” said Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat, who is Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“Today, we sent the ADVANCE Act to the president’s desk because Congress worked together to recognize the importance of nuclear energy to America’s future and got the job done,” said Republican Shelley Moore Capito, a ranking member of the committee.

Among other things, the bill would cut regulatory costs for companies seeking to license advanced nuclear reactor technologies, would create a prize for the successful deployment of next-generation reactors, and would speed licensing for nuclear facilities at certain sites.

The bill could benefit companies like Bill Gates-backed TerraPower, which is trying to build a $4 billion Natrium reactor in Wyoming on the site of an old coal plant but is struggling to secure a key permit.

Founded by Gates, TerraPower submitted the construction permit application for its Natrium advanced reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in March and is well on its way to deploy the first-of-a-kind reactor by 2030.

Natrium is a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage system and was originally projected to begin generating power in 2028. The deadline was moved after Russia, the only commercial source of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Non-proliferation groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists have warned against measures that ease licensing for high-tech nuclear reactors, including those using highly enriched uranium, arguing that safety should remain the priority.

The US nuclear industry has struggled to expand in recent decades due to soaring costs and complex permitting requirements, and as advanced nuclear technologies prove difficult to fund and develop.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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