“A bill to encourage the development and deployment of nuclear energy, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expands the Department of Energy's (DOE) licensing and regulatory authority over selected nuclear facilities by (1) amending section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5842) to retitle and revise the section for DOE facilities generally (previously limited to National Nuclear Security Administration facilities), striking former paragraphs (1) and (2), and redesignating the remaining paragraphs; (2) amending section 110a of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2140(a)) to exempt from Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing DOE-authorized activities involving source, byproduct, or special nuclear material (including contractor and sponsored activities) and commercial nuclear fuel cycle facilities on federal land or for federal purposes such as electricity generation for federal power marketing agencies; and (3) making conforming amendments to related laws. (As background, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 generally assigns NRC primary responsibility for licensing commercial nuclear activities, while DOE retains authority for defense-related facilities; these changes shift certain commercial activities to DOE regulation.) This section further directs the NRC to revise relevant regulations (e.g., 10 C.F.R. §§ 30.12, 40.11, 50.11, 70.11) within one year to eliminate limitations on DOE authority for off-federal sites. (Thus, DOE may authorize and regulate such nuclear activities without NRC licensing exemptions previously restricted to federal sites.) Activities under this section remain subject to Price-Anderson Act (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) financial protection and indemnification requirements.
This section establishes the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad within DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy as a component of the nuclear energy enabling technologies program (42 U.S.C. 16278(a)), to test and demonstrate the commercial feasibility of advanced nuclear technologies (i.e., advanced nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel cycle facilities) by eligible private entities (i.e., those with mature designs, sufficient resources, and high success potential). The Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy must (1) designate secure federal land areas, including DOE sites and national laboratories, as Nuclear Energy Launch Pad Zones and provide pathways to designate qualifying non-federal sites; (2) provide basic infrastructure (e.g., roads, power, water, fiber optics) and conduct land characterization (e.g., environmental surveys); (3) within 180 days of enactment of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Deployment Act of 2026, solicit and competitively select participants and enter flexible agreements (e.g., enhanced use leases, strategic partnership projects); and (4) leverage DOE authorities and NRC coordination for streamlined licensing, with Launch Pad facilities deemed under contract with DOE for Atomic Energy Act purposes (42 U.S.C. 2140(a)).
This section authorizes the Secretary of Energy to utilize the federal power marketing administrations—including the Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the Western Area Power Administration—to purchase, transmit, or enter into contracts to market electric power generated by nuclear facilities, subject to applicable authorities, limitations, and procedural requirements. (As background, these administrations market and transmit wholesale electric power, primarily from federal hydroelectric projects.) The section further deems such nuclear-generated electric energy, when purchased, transmitted, or marketed by a federal power marketing agency, to constitute "Federal power" or electric energy generated at a Federal project under federal law (with a rule of construction preserving existing authorities) and makes technical amendments to cross-references in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 302(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act.
This section requires the Office of Nuclear Energy of the Department of Energy to administer the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program established under subsection (b) and directs the Secretary to take necessary actions to implement this requirement not later than 30 days after enactment of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Deployment Act of 2026. (As background, the program provides cost-shared awards to private sector partners for engineering and construction of advanced nuclear reactors to demonstrate commercial viability.)
This section establishes within the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy a milestone-based Surplus Plutonium for Commercial Reactors Program, headed by the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, to select U.S. commercial nuclear fuel fabricators and other qualified entities (i.e., participants with contracted fuel offtake) and distribute surplus plutonium to them for processing and fabrication into advanced nuclear reactor fuel. The Program continues prior DOE solicitations and agreements with industry and requires the Assistant Secretary—in coordination with the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management—to execute initial agreements by 180 days after enactment, commence plutonium distribution by January 1, 2028 (subject to technical, security, and safeguards milestones), and complete distribution by January 1, 2035 (subject to milestones). This section further directs DOE, by 180 days after enactment, to terminate the Surplus Plutonium Dilute and Dispose Program—previously used to downblend weapons-grade plutonium for waste disposal—except for material posing safety concerns or unusable by the Office of Nuclear Energy, and to resume operations at the HB Line plutonium processing facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Upon termination, the section transfers any unobligated funds from the dilute-and-dispose program to the Office of Nuclear Energy for the new Program (except amounts needed for final disposition of previously downblended material) and requires annual briefings to specified congressional committees on Program progress until completion. (Nothing in the section affects DOE's legal obligations to South Carolina.)