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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, January-February 2016
Advanced
Reactor
Innovation
Bill
• Bill encourages public-private
partnerships on advanced nuclear
R&D
• Opens national laboratory sites to
private nuclear projects
• Legislation added as amendment
to comprehensive energy bill
The U.S. Senate’s significant
support for nuclear energy was
evident in early February, 2016,
with the near-unanimous passage of
legislation that encourages public-
private collaboration on advanced
nuclear research projects at national
laboratory sites.
The Nuclear Energy Innovation
Capabilities Act (S 2461), approved
87-4, is now an amendment to the
larger Energy Policy Modernization
Act of 2016 (S 2012).
S2461directstheU.S.Department
of Energy to prioritize partnering with
private innovators on developing and
prototyping new reactor technologies
and to use DOE sites such as Idaho
National Laboratory (INL) to build,
test and demonstrate privately funded
prototype reactors.
The bill requires the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to report to
Congress any foreseeable problems
in licensing reactors within four
years of receiving an application,
whether introduced through a DOE
partnership or privately developed.
DOE also is required to develop a
10-year plan for prioritizing nuclear
research and development programs
that support new reactor technology.
The nuclear industry has issued the
first four efficiency bulletins as part
of a multiyear campaign to increase
operational effectiveness at the
nuclear power plants that generate
electricity for one of every five U.S.
homes and businesses.
Sen. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho)
introduced the legislation, gathering
an impressively bipartisan group of
colleagues as co-sponsors, including
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.),
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Orrin Hatch
(R-Utah), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and
Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-R.I.). Crapo
introduced S 2461 as stand-alone
legislation but also used it as a basis
for an amendment to the broader
energy bill.
A companion bill in the House
of Representatives (HR 4084) passed
the House Committee on Science,
Space and Technology by voice vote
in January 2016.
“Nuclear energy is a vital part of
a national, varied, approach to energy
production. This vote demonstrates
the commitment in the Senate
to a long-term future for nuclear
power production and research
opportunities,” Crapo said.
Speaking at Third Way’s
advanced nuclear energy summit
recently, Crapo praised the first-rate
science and engineering capabilities
of the Idaho National Laboratory in
Idaho Falls, where he lives. “INL is
home to more than 50 experimental
nuclear reactors,” he said, that go
back as far as the dawn of the nuclear
age.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), one of
the bill’s co-sponsors, said including
nuclear energy in an all-of-the-above
energy strategy is a “no-brainer.”
The Senate continues to debate
the energy policy act, S 2012, which
now includes this amendment. The
stand-alone version of Crapo’s bill
remains active and, if the larger bill
is rejected, could proceed on its own.
Senator
Michael
Crapo
graduated from Brigham Young
University, Summa Cum Laude, with
a B.A. in Political Science in 1973.
He obtained his Juris Doctorate in
1977 from Harvard Law School,
Cum Laude. He served eight years in
the Idaho State Senate, representing
Bonneville County from 1984-1992.
For six year he represented Idaho’s
2nd District in the U.S. House of
Representatives, from 1993-1998.
He was elected to the United States
Senate, Idaho, in 1998 and has been
serving from 1999-present; being re-
elected in 2004 and 2010.
The start of the 114th Congress
marked a move in senate seniority
for Mike, now ranked 22nd in overall
Senate seniority. Mike serves on
three Environment and Public Works
(EPW) sub committees, in addition to
several other positions in the Senate:
• Subcommittee on Superfund,
Waste
Management
and
Regulatory Oversight,
• Subcommittee on Transportation
and Infrastructure,
• Subcommittee on Clean Air and
Nuclear Safety
Contact:
Nuclear Energy Institute,
1201
F St., NW, Suite 1100, Washington,
DC 20004-1218 phone: (202) 739-
8000, fax: (202) 785-4019, email:
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Senator Michael Crapo
