NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT ROUNDUP
Numerous exciting bills and projects pertaining to nuclear development have been unveiled in the past week. To start, two bipartisan bills were recently introduced in Congress that address nuclear waste disposition and nuclear waste recycling.
NUCLEAR WASTE ADMINSITRATION ACT OF 2024
Introduced in the House, this bill’s major proposal is the establishment of a new and independent Nuclear Waste Administration which would have the singular purpose of managing the nation’s nuclear waste. This means that all responsibilities for siting, constructing, and operating nuclear waste storage facilities and repositories would be transferred from the Department of Energy (DOE) to the new Nuclear Waste Administration.
The bill would require the Nuclear Waste Administration to utilize a consent-based process to site, construct, and operate facilities that store nuclear waste. This includes a directive for the proposed Administration to site, construct, and operate a permanent repository for the disposition of nuclear waste. The bill would also include provisions to protect nuclear waste cleanup funding and by insulating the proposed Administration from political influence.
The bill is a direct reaction to the lack of any interim storage facility or deep geologic repository, despite the growing taxpayer burden ($10.6 billion thus far, with another estimated $34.1 billion in liabilities) of an ever-increasing amount of nuclear waste. It follows up on recommendations from numerous organizations, such as the National Academy of Science, the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Waste Technical Review Board, the Blue Ribbon Commission, and several other organizations.
To view the full text of the bill, click here.
To view a one-pager fact sheet, click here.
ADVANCING RESEARCH IN NUCLEAR FUEL RECYLCING ACT
Introduced in the Senate, this bill’s main proposal would require DOE and the National Academies of Sciences to create an independent committee of experts to study the possibility of recycling the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.
The DOE-commissioned study would evaluate the cost, benefits, and risks of recycling the nation’s spent nuclear fuel compared to the status quo of interim storage. The committee will evaluate different recycling processes and lays out various uses to be studied are in the bill, including as fuel for commercial light water reactors and advanced nuclear reactors, and commercial purposes, such as medical, industrial, space-based, advanced battery, and other non-reactor applications. The study would also evaluate the feasibility of colocation of nuclear recycling facilities, as well as analyze what public-private partnerships and infrastructure would be required to lay the groundwork for such facilities. Other factors the study will consider include cost and capital estimates, timeline estimates, communities willing to host recycling facilities, and potential regulatory gaps that would determine the development of siting, constructing, and operating recycling facilities.
To see the full text of the bill, click here.
This week also saw a flurry of nuclear development announcements, such as the announcement that Project Pele, a transportable microreactor, is lifting off paper and Oklo’s announcement that it has begun site work for a microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These breakthroughs follow an announcement last week that Microsoft and Constellation negotiated an agreement to restart Three Mile Island in order to power Microsoft’s energy-intensive AI data centers.
FOURTH ANNUAL ECA FORUM
May 13 - 15, 2025 | Idaho Falls, ID
There are a lot of developments now ongoing in the nuclear world, and ECA looks forward to tracking and informing you on how they progress. Communities across the country are considering nuclear projects for many reasons - from diversifying regional economies, creating clean energy jobs or meeting carbon reduction goals, to increasing energy security and rebuilding the U.S. supply chain. Some communities have a familiarity with nuclear energy projects, while others are just beginning to evaluate potential interest.
ECA looks forward to discussing these topics and other nuclear development initiatives in May, at the fourth annual ECA Forum, with support from DOE. The Forum is the premiere annual event that brings together DOE, federal, state, local and tribal governments and policymakers with developers, utilities, regulators, industry, and academia to identify opportunities, challenges and to build the partnerships necessary to support nuclear development.
The ECA Forum is designed to enable shared learning so that local, State and Tribal governments evaluating nuclear projects can be meaningfully engaged - and prepared - to match the strengths and needs of their communities with new nuclear developers and opportunities.
To learn more about the meeting and ECA’s New Nuclear initiative, visit our website.