The Honorable Jennifer Granholm, former Governor of Michigan, stood witness today in a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The purpose of the hearing is to consider the nomination of the Honorable Jennifer Granholm to be the Secretary of Energy.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) today announced the Democratic rosters for the House Appropriations Committee’s 12 subcommittees in the 117th Congress, including the Subcommittee Chairs and full Committee Vice Chair who were elected by the Committee’s Democratic Members.
Today, President Trump is issuing an Executive Order on Promoting Small Modular Reactors for National Defense and Space Exploration, which will further revitalize the United States nuclear energy sector, reinvigorate America’s space exploration program, and produce diverse energy options for national defense needs.
U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., today announced that their bipartisan, bicameral Energy Act of 2020 has been included as Division Z of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, must-pass legislation that will be considered in the House and Senate starting today.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $30 million in initial funding for one of three programs under its new Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) has selected five teams to receive $30 million in FY20 funding for Risk Reduction for Future Demonstration projects. The awards are cost-shared partnerships with industry, and companies were chosen through a funding opportunity announcement issued in May 2020.
On Wednesday, October 28th, the Department of Energy’s loan Program office (LPO) held an overview seminar on their new path for debt capital related to innovation in U.S. energy infrastructure. This is an attempt by the LPO to provide “access to debt capital for energy projects using innovative technology when commercial lenders cannot or will not provide financing.” This also included a pledge for flexible financing, individually customized for the specific needs of each borrower.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced it has selected two U.S.-based teams to receive $160 million in initial funding under the new Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). ARDP, announced in May, is designed to help domestic private industry demonstrate advanced nuclear reactors in the United States.
Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed yesterday addressed 70 participants during a U.S.-Japan working group meeting of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center(link is external) and the Howard Baker Forum(link is external) on opportunities for civil nuclear cooperation and co-financing between the United States and Japan.
Democrats are making public the initial draft of the clean energy bill (attached) that Rep. Hoyer announced the House would consider next week. On first read, there appears to be a variety of provisions that will lead this to be a partisan exercise (additional regulatory hurdles for project development, eminent domain restrictions for pipeline development, and some burdensome legal provisions that could embolden litigious activities that limit energy development).
Washington, DC - Chairman Bruce Hamilton has submitted his resignation from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board to President Donald J. Trump. Upon his departure in early September, Vice Chairman Thomas Summers will serve as Acting Chairman.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Special Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), and U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released a comprehensive report on the climate crisis titled "The Case for Climate Action: Building a Clean Economy for the American People."
The United States Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC) announced the addition of seven new members to its board of directors. This move expands the board from nine to fourteen, and brings a more diversified and expansive set of views into the organization's leadership structure.
For a viable future, the U.S. advanced nuclear industry needs emergency planning requirements based on the improved safety characteristics of the new generation of advanced reactor technologies and the reduced radiation source term presented by these designs. An approach that could apply the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) modernized emergency planning requirements at the site boundary of these reactors would be fully protective of public health and safety, and allow advanced reactors to be regulated like industrial facilities that have similar levels of risk...
The U.S. Nuclear Industry Council has released the results of its 2020 Advanced Nuclear Survey of Developers. Seventeen Advanced Nuclear companies completed the entire survey in March 2020. Key policy issues facing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) were identified, as well as the characteristics of Advanced Reactors and the concerns of Advanced Nuclear Developers.
