Nuclear Energy Policy
Excerpted from Congressional Research Services Report RL RL33558
Updated July 12, 2007
Mark Holt
Specialist in Energy Policy
Resrources, Science, and Industry Divison
Read the full report.
Nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress include the implementation of federal incentives for new commercial reactors, radioactive waste management policy, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, and security against terrorist attacks.
The Bush Administration has called for an expansion of nuclear power. For Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear energy research and development and infrastructure, the Administration is requesting $801.7 million for FY2008, a nearly 30% increase from the FY2007 appropriation. The request would boost funding for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) from $167.5 million in FY2007 to $395.0 million in FY2008 as the primary component of the Administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). The House Appropriations Committee recommended cutting AFCI to $120.0 million while providing a total funding level of $835.2 million (H.R. 2641, H.Rept. 110-185). The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $242.0 million for AFCI and $795.5 million for nuclear energy overall (S. 1751, S.Rept. 110-127).
Significant incentives for new commercial reactors are included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58), signed by the President on August 8, 2005. These include production tax credits, loan guarantees, insurance against regulatory delays, and extension of the Price-Anderson Act nuclear liability system. Together with higher fossil fuel prices and the possibility of greenhouse gas controls, the federal incentives for nuclear power have helped spur renewed interest by utilities and other potential reactor developers. Plans for about 30 reactor license applications have been announced, although no commitments have been made to build the plants. No reactor has been ordered in the United States since 1978, and all orders since 1973 were subsequently canceled.
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States raised concern about nuclear power plant security. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 includes several reactor security provisions, including requirements to revise the security threats that nuclear plant guard forces must be able to defeat, regular force-on-force security exercises at nuclear power plants, and the fingerprinting of nuclear facility workers.
Disposal of highly radioactive waste has been one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear power. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-425), as amended in 1987, requires DOE to conduct a detailed physical characterization of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a permanent underground repository for high-level waste. DOE plans to submit a license application for the Yucca Mountain repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by June 30, 2008. The opening of the repository is now scheduled for 2017.
Pages: 1 2
Login/Register to EditWIKI:
Our issue pages are taken from Congressional Research Service reports to guarantee objectivity and accuracy. You can help us by expanding the discussion on this issue.
