Chairman Guthrie Applauds House Passage of Six Bills to Advance American Nuclear Energy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, applauded House passage of six bills that will unleash reliable nuclear energy and cut red tape that stands in the way of lowering prices for American families.
The bills include H.R. 3978, the Nuclear REFUEL Act; H.R. 9612, the American Enrichment Deployment Act; H.R. 5549, the Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act; H.R. 9613, the Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act; H.R. 9614, the NRC Staff Pay Alignment Act; and H.R. 9084, the Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act. Building on the work of the ADVANCE Act, these bills continue improving the NRC’s licensing process and reporting by the Department of Energy, helping to maintain positive momentum for U.S. nuclear deployment.
“Nuclear energy provides safe, reliable, and affordable power to communities across the United States. Throughout this Congress, our Committee has worked to strengthen the American nuclear industry to help meet the needs of families and businesses. The passage of these six bipartisan bills will continue that work by improving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing processes, supporting a resilient nuclear supply chain, and upholding the NRC’s unwavering commitment to safety,” said Chairman Guthrie. “Thank you to all of my colleagues who worked tirelessly to support these critical pieces of legislation.”
BACKGROUND:
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H.R. 3978, the Nuclear REFUEL (Recycling Efficient Fuels Utilizing Expedited Licensing) Act (Reps. Latta and Peters): Amends the definition of a production facility in the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) to exclude facilities that reprocess spent nuclear fuel in a manner that does not isolate plutonium. In effect, this clarifies that these spent fuel reprocessing facilities may be licensed under the same one-step regulatory process as other fuel cycle facilities, rather than a longer, two-step process more appropriate for facilities that produce special nuclear material in quantities significant for national security.
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H.R. 9612, the American Enrichment Deployment Act (Reps. Fry and Schrier): Amends the AEA to update the process for licensing of uranium enrichment facilities to align with the licensing requirements for all other fuel cycle facilities. It does so by removing enrichment-specific requirements for environmental review and adjudicatory hearings, and by clarifying that construction of a facility may be allowed prior to licensing under the same terms and conditions applicable to other fuel cycle facilities.
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H.R. 5549, the Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act (Reps. Griffith and Schrier): Removes the need for the NRC to expend resources on unnecessary hearings by eliminating the current requirement to hold uncontested hearings on applications for a construction permit, an operating license, a combined construction and operating license, or a license to possess and use special nuclear material. The bill would in no way affect the right of persons whose interests are affected to request a hearing on specific matters.
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H.R. 9613, the Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act (Rep. Harshbarger): Amends the AEA to update the role of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) in providing advice to the NRC on license applications, license amendments, regulatory activities, and other matters. The legislation provides ACRS new flexibility to decline to review issues that do not merit its attention and directs the ACRS to focus on issues that are directly related to nuclear reactor facility design, are safety-significant, are noteworthy or novel, and have not been previously acted on by the Committee.
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H.R. 9614, the NRC Staff Pay Alignment Act (Rep. Menendez): Amends the AEA to provide that the Chairman of the NRC may fix the compensation for career, Senior Executive Service (SES) appointees at a rate that is 10 percent higher than the maximum annual rate of basic pay for SES positions within the Commission. The legislation would help align the pay authority applicable to these career employees with workforce development and pay authority amendments made to the AEA by the ADVANCE Act. It will enable the NRC Chairman to award individuals worthy of increased compensation to help ensure high-quality management of licensing and safety oversight.
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H.R. 9084, the Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act (Reps. Castor and Miller-Meeks): Requires DOE to announce and post information on decisions relating to the licensing and authorization of DOE nuclear facilities, as well as changes in directives and safety standards relating to such facilities, on a publicly accessible website within 24 hours of such decisions or actions. The legislation would also require the Secretary of Energy to provide an annual report to the Energy and Commerce Committee and to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that details all such activity by DOE to authorize nuclear facilities over the previous year.