On July 18, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) approved a new process to help streamline the agency’s mandatory hearings. The new process will go into effect immediately and should dramatically shorten the time...more
On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, President Biden signed into law the most comprehensive energy-related bill since the Inflation Reduction Act—and it’s all about nuclear energy. This new law will support the deployment of nuclear...more
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a request for proposals (“RFP”) aimed at expanding domestic uranium enrichment capabilities. This confirms the Biden Administration’s priority to establish...more
Fusion energy took center stage in Washington, D.C. this week. On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a new strategy aimed at accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with...more
On May 29, 2024, the White House hosted a Summit on Domestic Nuclear Deployment, highlighting key points of progress being made across the public and private sectors, and announcing a number of new initiatives....more
Last week, the United Kingdom announced two significant initiatives that help promote commercialization of next-generation clean energy technology. First, the UK will help fund a uranium enrichment plant to produce...more
An updated version of the ADVANCE Act—broad-ranging legislation intended to support deployment of new nuclear reactors in both the United States and abroad, among other things, received strong movement forward this past week...more
On Tuesday, April 16, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published a new report as part of its “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff” initiative, focused on the strategies for innovative and reliable grid deployment. The same...more
On February 28, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill containing a package of nuclear licensing reforms aimed at speeding the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. The bill, which had strong bipartisan...more
During the World Climate Action Summit of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change going on now in Dubai, UAE—commonly known as “COP28”—a number of significant announcements have...more
On October 13, 2023, President Biden and U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, announced seven regional clean hydrogen hub locations selected to receive $7 billion in Infrastructure Investments and...more
On September 27, 2023, Helion Energy, Inc., a fusion power company, and Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer and recycler in North America, announced a deal to develop a 500 MWe Helion fusion power plant at a Nucor...more
On Monday, September 18, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published three new reports as part of its “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff” initiative, focused on the state of industrial decarbonization. The goal of...more
On August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license granted to Interim Storage Partners, LLC (ISP) for its temporary spent nuclear fuel storage...more
On June 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) released two long awaited draft requests for proposals (“RFPs”) to support the development of high-assay low-enriched uranium (“HALEU”) in the United States....more
In April 2023, Idaho National Laboratory (“INL”), a U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) National Laboratory, published a report entitled “Recommendations to Improve the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reactor Licensing and...more
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) is releasing a series of reports on the path to commercialization for certain clean energy technologies, including a report on advanced reactors. Today, senior leaders at DOE hosted a...more
On April 13, 2023, Commissioners of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) directed the NRC staff to create a regulatory framework for fusion energy systems, building on the agency’s existing process for licensing the...more
On March 30, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published a report walking through the benefits and latest progress in fusion energy developments, while noting certain challenges and proposing policy approaches to...more
On March 8, 2023, the Biden Administration announced approximately $6 billion in funding through a new program within the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) aimed at accelerating decarbonization projects in energy-intensive...more
Interest in nuclear energy—and its promise of clean, secure, and affordable power—continue to lead to new projects in the U.S. and abroad. Traditional large reactors, advanced reactors and small, modular reactors (“SMRs”) are...more
On January 9, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi announced plans to strengthen bilateral cooperation on developing next-generation nuclear...more
On January 3, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) staff sent to the Commission SECY-23-0001, “Options for Licensing and Regulating Fusion Energy Systems” and three related enclosures (collectively, the “Options...more
Today the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) officially announced a major scientific breakthrough in fusion energy when the National Ignition Facility (“NIF”) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (“LLNL”) in...more
On December 7, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the bipartisan International Nuclear Energy Act (“INEA”), which aims to support the United States’ civil nuclear export strategy and promote international...more