H.R. 6613 — Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act of 2025

This section establishes consultation, public participation, and host state notification requirements for post-shutdown decommissioning activities reports (PSDARS) and license transfers for covered nuclear facilities (i.e., licensee facilities for which a PSDAR is required under Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations). It defines key terms, including "covered PSDAR" (initial PSDAR or one proposing a significant update to the decommissioning strategy or material change in handling covered materials such as high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, transuranic waste, or certain byproduct material), "affected State" (host state or any state within 50 miles), and "Tribal government" (governing body of an Indian tribe). Prior to submitting a covered PSDAR or license transfer application to the NRC, the licensee (and transferee, if applicable) must consult with each affected state and each unit of state or Tribal government in an affected state with jurisdiction over land within 50 miles of the facility. After consultation, the licensee must submit the proposal to the NRC and make it publicly available (subject to redactions for trade secrets, commercial information, or national security); the NRC must also make it publicly available. The NRC must solicit public comments in the host state for at least 90 days (via written comments and at least two public meetings) following submission of a covered PSDAR or docketing of a license transfer application. Not later than 60 days after receipt or docketing, the NRC must notify the host state of its opportunity to submit, within an additional 60 days, a statement of support, conditional support (with recommended changes), or nonsupport for the proposal (or note any failure to submit).

This section establishes two Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) grant programs to support community advisory boards, which foster communication between nuclear licensees and affected communities during plant decommissioning activities (as defined in 10 C.F.R. § 50.2). **Short-term grant program.** Not later than 180 days after enactment, the NRC must establish a program awarding grants to eligible entities—States or Indian Tribes with a civilian nuclear power plant or unit decommissioning or in the process within three years of enactment—to make subgrants to community advisory boards for uses including hiring experts, administrative costs, travel, website maintenance, reports, contracts, volunteer reimbursement, and other reasonable expenses (as determined by the NRC). The NRC must use a formula ensuring geographic diversity, implement best practices from a specified report under the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, and waive cost-sharing requirements for activities benefiting or impacting small, rural, or disadvantaged communities (i.e., population under 50,000 or disadvantaged per NRC criteria). Authorizes $12.5 million for FY2026 through FY2028, available until five years after enactment. **Long-term grant program.** For eligible entities—States or Indian Tribes with a civilian nuclear power plant or unit decommissioning or in the process more than three years after enactment—the program establishes in the Treasury the Community Advisory Board Fund, with annual deposits equal to NRC collections pursuant to forthcoming regulations and amounts available for specified uses.

This section (1) extends Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding through 2034 (from 2029); (2) expands assistance activities for nuclear host communities under section 209(e) to include capacity building and economic resilience activities; and (3) establishes a 100 percent federal share (up from the standard maximum of 90 percent under 42 U.S.C. 3144(a)) for grants to nuclear host communities (as defined in section 209(e)(1)) that are small, rural, or disadvantaged communities (i.e., with populations of fewer than 50,000 individuals or disadvantaged with respect to geographic, socioeconomic, public health, or environmental hazard criteria, as determined by the Secretary). (Thus, such grants require no nonfederal match.)

This section establishes a noncompetitive grant program, to be carried out by the Secretary of Energy not later than 60 days after enactment, to provide financial assistance to affected communities (i.e., units of local government hosting stranded nuclear waste, defined as nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks or pools at decommissioned or decommissioning civilian nuclear power plants). Grants equal $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel stored at the plant, limited to one per eligible unit of local government per fiscal year per plant; such sums as necessary are authorized for FY2026 through 2035, with no offset against other federal programs.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the section, including "host community" (i.e., a state, Tribal or local government containing a decommissioning civilian nuclear power plant), "covered facility" (i.e., a civilian nuclear power plant decommissioning after enactment), and "host community economic recovery account." The section further directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a host community economic recovery account in the Treasury for each covered facility, to be managed by the Secretary of Commerce (acting through the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development); requires the licensee annually to transfer funds from the facility's nuclear decommissioning trust (or equivalent financial assurance) sufficient to maintain an account balance of at least 2% of the combined trust and account balances (or equivalents); and makes such funds available without appropriation or fiscal-year limitation. Finally, the section requires the Secretary to provide grants from these accounts to host communities for economic development planning (as defined by the Secretary) or implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy (as defined in 42 U.S.C. 3122); directs initiation of the grant process no later than five years before the facility's scheduled shutdown or upon the licensee's certification of permanent cessation of operations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and prohibits cost-sharing requirements for grants to small, rural, or disadvantaged communities.