Senate EPW subcommittee weighs in on three nuclear energy bills

Proposed nuclear energy legislation with bipartisan support earned the attention of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday morning.

Subject-matter experts and the chief sponsors of the legislation shared details on three items at a hearing Wednesday before the EPW Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety: the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act-introduced just last week-and discussion drafts of the Revitalizing Energy Communities by Hosting Advanced Reactors and Generating Energy (RECHARGE) Act and Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act.

No actions were taken at Wednesday's hearing.

About the Build Nuclear with Local Materials Act: This bill would require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow the use of commercial-grade concrete and steel in non-safety-related structures at nuclear power plants and areas not directly exposed to radioactive material. However, the NRC would still have the authority to require nuclear-grade materials on these non-safety-related structures if it is determined that stricter standards are necessary to address a specific safety risk or ensure public health and safety.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), a cosponsor of the bill, said NRC rules can still force nuclear-grade material-which is more expensive and extends construction timelines-to be used in areas where it isn't needed. Nick Loris, president of the nonprofit C3 Solutions, said nuclear-grade concrete can cost 50 percent more than its commercial-grade counterpart, with some nuclear-grade components being 50 times more expensive.

One reason for the higher cost is the shortage of suppliers and resultant lack of competition. "Expanding the use of commercial-grade material will broaden the supplier base, increase competition, and enable local manufacturers and construction firms to participate in nuclear projects," added Loris.

About the RECHARGE Act: Building at or near former power plants and brownfield sites is nothing new in the nuclear industry. Consider TerraPower's Natrium power plant in Kemmerer, Wyo., which is currently under construction near a retiring coal-fired facility, or Kairos Power's Hermes demonstration site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which is situated on the former K-33 gaseous diffusion plant site.

The RECHARGE Act would streamline the environmental reviews of some future nuclear reactor facilities sited at brownfield sites and abandoned fossil fuel power plants. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), who is sponsoring the bill, said one of the goals of RECHARGE is to revitalize these abandoned sites. In Wyoming, she is seeing firsthand what revitalization can look like, as TerraPower's presence in Kemmerer helps out that community.

"These communities already have energy infrastructure and experienced workforces," she said. "Repurposing these sites for advanced nuclear development can attract long-term investment, strengthen local tax bases, and create new opportunities in energy communities."

Patrick White, group leader for fusion, safety, and regulation at the Clean Air Task Force, said the bill streamlines environmental reviews, thus accelerating nuclear deployment on sites that already have infrastructure in place and that at one point already produced power. The draft legislation, however, has room for improvement, he said.

While he agreed with the intent of RECHARGE and the other bills discussed, he said that "there are some specific targeted changes we can make to the draft legislation to ultimately provide greater clarity on the technical and legal justification for some of these changes, help enable more robust public engagement with stakeholders during public comment processes, and help ensure that these regulatory changes don't have an inadvertent effect on ultimately other licensing processes that we're going to need to complete to get nuclear energy deployed at scale in the United States."

About the Enrichment Licensing Modernization Act: It has been about 40 years since uranium enrichment rules were updated, Kelly told those in attendance at Wednesday's hearing. He proposes a bill to modernize the licensing process for uranium enrichment facilities, aligning it with similar processes for other fuel cycle facilities. The current licensing process has made it harder than it needs to be, Kelly said.

"Right now, NRC requirements include well-intentioned but outdated procedural hurdles that create a lot of uncertainty," he said. "It also drives up costs and delays the projects we need to get new production capacity on line."

Speakers at Wednesday's hearing said the country's ambitions to deploy more nuclear reactors will ultimately depend on the growth of domestic uranium enrichment. Roughly 80 percent of enriched uranium for the country's nuclear fuel is imported, with roughly 20 percent of it coming from Russia. The U.S. ban on low-enriched Russian uranium, which will take full effect beginning in 2028, further stresses the need to restore domestic enrichment.

Adam Stein, director of nuclear energy innovation at the Breakthrough Institute, said moving away from imported Russian products will require domestic enrichment to grow two to five times the current amount.

"That is a significant increase compared to the status quo and will require streamlining," he said.