Capitol Corner: ADVANCE Act Aims to Boost New Nuclear

Last week, President Joe Biden held a signing ceremony for the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, officially enacting the bipartisan legislation into law. The ASME-endorsed bill represents the most comprehensive nuclear energy policy legislation since the 2019-enacted Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act and follows on a number of recent efforts by the White House to work to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050.  

The White House hosted a large group of bill sponsors, including U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, along with Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  

“This bipartisan law will strengthen our energy and national security, lower greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of new jobs, while ensuring the continued safety of this zero-emissions energy source. I’m thankful to each of my colleagues who helped write and pass this bill and to President Biden for signing it into law,” said Chairman Carper.  

“With the ADVANCE Act being signed into law, we secured a landmark win for the future of nuclear energy here in America,” Ranking Member Capito said. “Getting substantive, bipartisan policy across the finish line isn’t always easy, but this is the result of years of work to build widespread consensus about the benefits of advanced nuclear reactors to our electric grid, economy, and environment.” 

The ADVANCE Act includes provisions to: 

• Establish a joint Commerce Department and Energy Department initiative to facilitate outreach to nations that are seeking to develop advanced nuclear energy programs. 

• Reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reduce regulatory costs for companies seeking to license advanced nuclear reactor technologies. 

• Creates a prize to incentivize the successful deployment of next-generation nuclear reactor technologies. 

• Require the NRC to develop a pathway to enable the timely licensing of nuclear facilities at brownfield sites. 

• Direct the NRC to establish an initiative to enhance preparedness to qualify and license advanced nuclear fuels. 

• Authorize funding to assist in cleaning up legacy abandoned mining sites on Tribal lands. 

• Provide the NRC Chair with the tools to hire and retain highly-specialized staff to review and approve advanced nuclear reactor licenses successfully and safely. 

To learn more about the ADVANCE Act, visit: https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2024/7/signed-bipartisan-advance-act-to-boost-nuclear-energy-now-law