President Joe Biden was scheduled Tuesday to sign into law a sweeping spending package that would, among other things, give nuclear power plant operators a tax break in hopes of keeping the U.S. reactor fleet humming along.
If enacted, the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed the House Friday on a 220-207 party line vote, would establish a production tax credit for nuclear power plants. Payouts would be calculated based on the kilowatt-hours produced and sold by qualifying facilities.
The measure directs the Secretary of Energy to establish “regulations or other guidance” for allocating credits. The proposed program would begin in 2024 and run eight years, through 2032. Privately-owned nuclear facilities, plants built after the enactment of the law and advanced nuclear reactors would not qualify for a tax credit, the bill said.
If enacted, the Inflation Reduction Act’s nuclear tax credits would be the second federal program in recent months aimed at propping up economically-troubled nuclear power plants.
The Department of Energy is currently accepting applications for the first funding round of its civil nuclear credits program, greenlit in November as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
More federal assistance would be good news for the U.S. nuclear fleet, which saw two plants go offline in the last year or so. Most recently, Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station shut down May 20. Indian Point Energy Center in New York shuttered in April 2021.
