The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a key piece of legislation aimed at bolstering the country’s nuclear energy sector. It was possible to combine the nuclear package with another bill that renewed the U.S. Fire Administration and grant programs for firefighters.
The goal of the measure is to speed up the process of getting new nuclear plants approved, since many of the ones that are already in use are nearing the end of their useful lives. It also lowers the fees that power companies have to pay to get permission to start projects. It also tells the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to write a report looking into ways to make the environmental review process easier and faster.
The bill passed with 88 votes in favor and 2 against. Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were against it.
The Trump administration has put a lot of emphasis on “unleashing American energy.”
President Trump signed four executive orders telling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make rules easier to follow and speed up the process of giving out new licenses for nuclear power plants. They must act on applications within 18 months.
The US used to be the best in the world at designing and building nuclear power plants. But delays and high prices have given China that title, and the country is now building the most reactors ever.
The orders are meant to speed up the federal approval process for new nuclear projects and technologies, as well as cut costs to make the NRC smaller.
The sector will benefit from federal subsidies because the House of Representatives’ draft budget bill keeps tax breaks for both new and existing nuclear plants, but they must start building them by January 1, 2029.
The goal is to triple the amount of nuclear power generated in the US over the next 25 years, from about 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
This news comes after the U.S. Department of Energy said on Tuesday that it would restart the long-dormant nuclear reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, which is under contract to provide power to Microsoft data centers. The project will be funded by a $1 billion loan.
The move is in line with President Donald Trump’s goals of boosting nuclear energy and the growth of artificial intelligence.
Three Mile Island, which is near Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River, was the site of the worst commercial nuclear disaster in the country in 1979. A partial meltdown destroyed Unit 2.
Unit 1, the plant’s only reactor, ran for decades until Exelon, Constellation Energy’s former parent company, shut it down in 2019 because it was losing money and the state wasn’t giving them any money to keep it running.
As Constellation Energy tries to restart the 835-megawatt facility, the federal loan is expected to lower the company’s financing costs. Constellation Energy owns the site’s last operational reactor.
The reactor, which can power about 800,000 homes, hasn’t worked since 2019. However, Microsoft has signed a 20-year contract to buy its output, and it will reopen in 2027.
After saying last year that it would spend $1.6 billion to restart the facility, which is now called the Crane Clean Energy Center, Constellation has begun to repair the turbine, generator, main power transformer, and cooling and control systems.
The loan is being made available thanks to a $250 billion federal energy infrastructure project that Congress approved in 2022.
Because of the growing need for electricity, especially from data centers that use a lot of power, politicians and businesses are once again interested in nuclear power.
This is because lawmakers are looking for ways to meet this need without using carbon. Federal officials say that restarting old nuclear plants is necessary to keep the power grid stable and reach long-term climate goals.
Chris Wright, the Secretary of Energy, said, “Thanks to President Trump’s strong leadership and the Working Families Tax Cut, the United States is taking steps that have never been taken before to lower energy costs and start the next American nuclear renaissance.” Constellation’s reopening of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will give people in the Mid-Atlantic region cheap, dependable, and safe energy. It will also help make sure that the US has the energy it needs to grow its manufacturing base and win the AI race.
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