The United States has taken a significant step towards developing its nuclear reactors. This week, the Senate passed the Accelerating Adoption of Versatile and Advanced Nuclear Technologies for Clean Energy ( ADVANCE ) Act. A version of this bill also received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, just needing the president’s signature.
Over the past decade, more than a dozen U.S. reactors have been shuttered and only two new ones have come online—a pair opened last month in Georgia at a cost of more than $30 billion. The ADVANCE Act aims to expand the nation’s nuclear energy industry by creating incentives and reducing the time and cost of building nuclear reactors. These efforts include financial incentives for the first companies to achieve certain goals, such as introducing nuclear waste recycling.
Much of the ADVANCE Act focuses on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the independent government agency that oversees the use of nuclear energy, including commercial nuclear power plants.
The bill changes the role of the NRC by requiring the creation of a new mission that “the licensing and regulation of the civil uses of radioactive materials and nuclear energy must be conducted effectively and not unnecessarily limit the benefits to society of the civil uses of radioactive materials and nuclear technologies.”
The bill also directs the NRC to speed up licensing and hiring processes, and improve “the process for approving the export of U.S. technology to international markets.”