Stimulus deal provides $11 billion in new funding for nuclear

Congress has moved to fund clean energy—including $11 billion for nuclear energy and $6 billion for CCUS—and phase out a class of potent planet-warming chemicals and provide billions of dollars for renewable energy and efforts to suck carbon from the atmosphere as part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief package.

The bill also authorizes $2.9 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e), a program that funds high-risk, high-reward research and that Trump has sought to eliminate multiple times.

The increased funding is expected to make emerging clean-energy technology cheaper and more widespread. This is especially significant for ideas that have proved effective but are struggling to make the jump to commercial viability.

“This is an opportunity to not only make significant advances in climate action and reducing HFCs, but to help maintain leadership of U.S. technology and our competitiveness in that global market,” said Marty Durbin, an energy lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest corporate lobbying group in Washington.

Read more in the The Washington Post: "Stimulus deal includes raft of provisions to fight climate change."

Published by Nucleation Capital in Advanced Nuclear, Carbon emissions, Climate change, Government support, History Timeline, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear R&D, Politicians supporting nuclear, US technological leadership

July 27, 2020

US Senate passes Nuclear Energy Leadership Act

The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA, S.903) which had 22 bipartisan co-sponsors, was introduced as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA, S.4049) by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Cory Booker during a floor debate on July 23rd. The NDAA was passed the same day, with 86 senators voting in favor and 14 against.

NELA aims to re-establish US leadership in nuclear energy, with a focus on the demonstration of advanced reactors. "For too long, the United States has lagged woefully behind on innovative nuclear energy technologies, which comes at great cost to our economy, our global leadership and the environment," Murkowski, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said after the vote.

Last month a bipartisan group of 10 Republican and 10 Democratic US senators, led by Murkowski and Booker, wrote a letter to the leaders of the Senate Committee on Armed Services to urge the inclusion of NELA in NDAA, based in part on nuclear energy's contribution to national security.

NELA was not included in the House version of the NDAA, which was passed on two days earlier. A final version of the NDAA legislation, reconciling differences between House and Senate versions, must be drawn up before the bill can become law.

Read the World Nuclear New's summary "US Senate passes Nuclear Energy Leadership Act" published 7/27/20.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Future of Energy, Government support, History Timeline, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear R&D, Politicians supporting nuclear, US competitiveness, US technological leadership, Zero emission energy

March 27, 2019

N.E.L.A. reintroduced, Bill Gates “thrilled”

Bill Gates wrote: “I’m thrilled that senators from both sides of the aisle have come together to support advanced nuclear. This is exactly the kind of leadership our country needs to both solve the climate challenge and reassert our leadership in this important industry,” in response to the re-introduction of the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA), submitted on March 27th, 2019 by a group of 15 senators led by Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

NELA, a bipartisan bill that would encourage further development of advanced nuclear energy programs that would help create high-quality jobs, strengthen national security, reduce foreign energy dependence, and promote emissions-free energy, was also introduced to the House in June 2019, by Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02), Denver Riggleman (VA-05), Congressman Conor Lamb (PA-17), and Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01).

“As an engineer who operated nuclear reactors on aircraft carriers, I know that ensuring a thriving civilian nuclear industry is vital not only for our economy, but for our national security,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Nuclear energy must be part of any solution to transitioning to a clean energy future because nuclear power provides over 55% of our carbon-free energy. That’s why I’m proud to reach across the aisle and introduce this critical bipartisan bill.”

“Yesterday, a bipartisan group of leaders in the US Senate introduced the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, which establishes an ambitious plan to accelerate the development of advanced nuclear reactor technologies,” Bill Gates tweeted. “I can’t overstate how important this is,” he said.

The draft bill was formally introduced to the Senate by Murkowski on behalf of herself and Senators Cory Booker, James Risch, Joe Manchin, Mike Crapo, Lamar Alexander, Sheldon Whitehouse, Cory Gardner, Chris Coons, Dan Sullivan, Tammy Duckworth, Lindsay Graham, Michael Bennet, Shelley Moore Capito, and Rob Portman. It directs the US Secretary of Energy “to establish advanced nuclear goals, provide for a versatile, reactor-based fast neutron source, make available high-assay, low-enriched uranium for research, development, and demonstration of advanced nuclear reactor concepts, and for other purposes”.

Read SightlineU308's "Bill Gates ‘thrilled’ by legislative boost for nuclear" for more on Gate's response and read here for more about the Nuclear Energy Innovation Modernization Act.

Published by Nucleation Capital in Future of Energy, Government support, LINKS, Nuclear competitiveness, Nuclear innovation, Nuclear R&D, Philanthropic support for nuclear, Politicians supporting nuclear, Regulatory reform