Senate passes major nuclear regulatory reform, sending it to Biden’s desk

A measure enacting major nuclear regulatory reforms cleared the Senate on Tuesday, marking one of the few major regulatory overhauls to pass Congress before the November election.

The Senate passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, 88-2, a package of measures meant to strengthen the agency overseeing the nuclear sector, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and streamline the process of approving projects, especially for newer generations of advanced reactor technology. The legislative package passed the House last month. 

The passage of the nuclear legislation underlines the efforts to support the buildout of the nuclear industry as the sector experiences a resurgence of investment, with many seeing it as an emissions-free, reliable source of energy. The White House has invested billions in the buildout of small modular reactors, a more efficient form of reactor technology that’s been touted as safer and more efficient than larger, more traditional forms of nuclear reactors.

“Small, modular reactors are the future of nuclear energy,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the top Senate Republican negotiator for the legislative package, said during a press conference Tuesday. “But we have a regulatory system right now that does not address and license these reactors quick enough. They don’t have the speed nor the staff to be able to do this.” 

Capito also reinforced the need for the United States to stand as a leader in nuclear innovation, a notable remark as some of the country’s leading competitors in the space, such as China, are years ahead in their deployment of reactors.

The legislation, which is a compromise measure between a House and Senate bill, is meant to reduce regulatory costs for companies that wish to license advanced nuclear reactors and requires the NRC to establish a more “efficient, timely, and predictable” licensing process. 

Judi Greenwald, an executive director at the Nuclear Innovation Alliance and one of the leading voices for NRC reform, told the Washington Examiner that 90% of funding for the agency stems from licensing fees. The bill would lower fees and make up the difference with funding from the Treasury.

“Reducing those fees and increasing appropriations to make sure that’s funded is really important,” she said. “It’s very unusual for an agency to have such an overwhelming fraction funded by applicants.” 

The bill also charges the agency to streamline the environmental review process, a contentious proposal for Democrats, with some progressives drawing a red line against amending the National Environmental Policy Act.

The legislation requires the agency to establish a pathway to enable the timely licensing of nuclear facilities at brownfields, retired fossil fuel plants, and existing nuclear sites. 

The package is intended to address the U.S. role in the international nuclear market. It would empower the NRC to to lead in international forums to develop regulations. It would also ease restrictions on foreign ownership of plants and direct the Department of Energy to improve its process to approve the export of American technology to international markets. 

The bill gives the chairman of the NRC, which has long been held back by an undersized workforce, the tools to hire and retain qualified staff. It establishes a traineeship program within the NRC’s nuclear workforce program and provides flexibility for the agency to budget and manage staffing problems.

The 90-page package is tucked away in a bill that would reauthorize the U.S. Fire Administration and firefighter assistance grant programs. Top negotiators had previously struggled to find a must-pass vehicle for the package and attempted to attach the measure to a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration as well as to appropriations bills but to no avail.

Some Democrats, however, opposed the legislation. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), a climate hawk, expressed concerns that the measure gives way to industry players at the expense of people whose towns would host nuclear plants. Markey also argued that the measure does not include language to ensure continued nuclear nonproliferation overseas, allowing for the threat of nuclear war.

“The United States is supposed to be the leader in the global arena, and as a nation with nuclear capabilities, we have a duty to set the strongest possible standards for domestic and international nuclear activities as an example to the rest of the world,” Markey said during a floor speech. 

Only Markey and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) voted against the measure.

The bill has garnered a long list of industry supporters, including the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Nuclear Industry Council, energy company Xcel Energy, and nuclear reactor designer TerraPower.

Still, there are some notable problems that the bill does not address, according to Greenwald. She still wants to see the elimination of certain mandatory hearings, which, according to the NIA’s list of suggested NRC reforms, “waste agency time and resources without benefitting the licensing process.” The group also suggests reforming the NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to review only novel safety issues, which would ensure an efficient use of the panel’s expertise.