The Senate on Thursday cleared a hurdle to vote on a bill that would bolster the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget for monitoring potential radiological threats in Ukrainian combat zones.
Senators on Thursday voted 67-32 to end debate on the bill, clearing the way for a final floor vote that was not scheduled at deadline Friday for Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor. The procedural vote went 67-32, with 17 Republican senators crossing the aisle to support the measure and one, Sen. Cynthia Lumis (R-Wyo.) sitting out the vote. The Senate recessed after the vote and was scheduled to return on Monday.
The bill has about $150 million for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to keep an eye on Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the middle of combat zones and, elsewhere in DOE, billions in funding to jumpstart domestic production of energy-dense uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation has provided equipment, expertise and personnel to Ukraine, which Russia again invaded in early 2022. Russian personnel have taken over some Ukrainian power plants, including Europe’s largest, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.
Since Russia’s invasion, the NNSA has sought more funding for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. The agency has largely kept the details of its response in Ukraine secret, but a supplemental budget request from August detailed some of the items on the NNSA’s wishlist for the embattled eastern European country.
