The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday was to mark up a bill that would increase funding for next-generation nuclear energy programs at the expense of accounts that fund nuclear waste, among other things.
Generally, the bill would provide DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy with more funding than requested for development of high assay low-enriched uranium fuel (HALEU) for next-generation nuclear reactors and less funding than requested for accounts that fund nuclear waste, international cooperation, security at the Idaho National Laboratory and cooperation with universities and small businesses.
Specifically, the Integrated Waste Management System subprogram of the Nuclear Energy office’s Fuel Cycle Research and Development account would fall to $18 million under the bill, according to a detailed report released by the Republican-controlled committee on Wednesday.
That is $35 million less than what President Joe Biden (D) requested for 2024 and $35 million below the 2023 appropriation for the Integrated Waste Management System subprogram. The account pays for DOE’s efforts to find a location for a federally owned interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel, plus development of spent-fuel handling technology.
The bill report did not explain why the committee declined to fund Integrated Waste Management at the requested level and a committee spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. DOE is prohibited by law from building an interim storage site until it builds a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel.
Overall under the committee’s bill, DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy would receive some $1.8 billion for civilian nuclear programs. That would be about $220 million above the request and $310 million higher than the 2023 appropriation.
In the report appended to the bill, appropriators told DOE to make sure that “there are two suppliers of HALEU to meet anticipated commercial demand.” Report language is not legally binding.
Separately under the committee’s bill, DOE’s Nuclear Waste Disposal account would receive about the $12 million it requested for 2024. That would make for a roughly $2-million increase compared with the 2023 appropriation contained in December’s omnibus budget act.
DOE sought the increase to pay “for the operation and maintenance costs for the Yucca Mountain legacy licensing and data management system,” according to the agency’s 2023 budget request for Nuclear Waste Disposal.
The disposal account chiefly pays for the financial management of the utility-funded Nuclear Waste Fund, which would support the operation of federal spent-fuel disposal sites, if any existed, and upkeep of the Yucca Mountain site in Nye County, Nev., where DOE once planned to build a permanent repository.
The Nuclear Waste Disposal account used to include DOE’s budget for creating a federally operated interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel, but that money was moved to the agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy in December’s omnibus.
