The Secretary of Energy will head off to Europe next week to lead the U.S. delegation at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference, the Department of Energy announced Thursday.
At the annual conference in Vienna, Austria, Secretary Jennifer Granholm will give a speech “underscoring the use of nuclear to combat climate change, advance medical treatments, and the critical importance of continued cooperation and collaboration to enhance nuclear safeguards, security, and innovation to successfully achieve our common goals,” the Department of Energy said in a press release Thursday morning.
The IAEA conference will run from Sep. 19 to Sep. 21, after which Granholm is scheduled to jet off to Poland, DOE said.
The Joe Biden administration has signaled that nuclear energy is a key part of its climate agenda — its bipartisan infrastructure legislation, which is through the Senate and awaiting a vote in the House, includes roughly $6 billion to bail out financially-troubled nuclear power plants.
On the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the administration and DOE have been less vocal. Granholm has said that her department will soon start looking into a possible site for a future federal interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. Congress’s 2022 budget, currently in the reconciliation process, will open up around $20 million for DOE to use in its siting inquiry.
As of deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor, more details about DOE’s interim storage plans in the Biden administration had yet to emerge.
