Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled a proposed climate bill this week that would classify nuclear energy as a “clean energy project.”
The CLEAN Energy Act, introduced by committee chairman Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) alongside Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), considers nuclear to be a zero-emissions energy source. As a result, nuclear energy generators are eligible for federal tax credits and grants under the proposed measure.
Pallone, speaking on a press teleconference Tuesday, said that the measure doesn’t provide any specific policy recommendations to achieve its stated goal of requiring all electricity suppliers to provide 100% clean electricity by 2035. The bill doesn’t take a position that favors nuclear or any other technology, Pallone said.
“The consequences [of the bill] will be that some technologies will do better than others, particularly renewables,” Pallone said. “I don’t know what the impact would be, per se, on nuclear.”
John Kotek, vice president of policy development and public affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, said the industry group was “pleased to see that nuclear energy is being equally valued alongside other carbon-free energy sources” in a statement sent to RadWaste Monitor via email Tuesday. “In particular, we appreciate that nuclear energy is specifically recognized as eligible for both Zero-Emissions Credits and for Clean Energy Project grants,” he said.
Rep. Tonko, who heads up the Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment panel, told RadWaste Monitor Feb. 9 that he supports an “all of the above” clean energy agenda that includes nuclear. He also suggested that the Biden administration may conduct a review of nuclear energy.
At deadline for RadWaste Monitor no committee hearings had been scheduled for the bill, which made no explicit mention of radioactive waste resulting from power generation
