The Senate’s 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes the text of a bill that would extend nuclear-industry indemnity for catastrophic accidents and begin reforms at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The bill text was folded into the version of the 2024 defense policy bill introduced Wednesday by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the majority leader. The Senate had not passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor. The upper chamber was scheduled to resume debate of the bill on Tuesday. The House passed its version of the NDAA on July 14.
The nuclear bill’s text in large part aims to make it easier for U.S. companies to export nuclear power technology, including the new reactor designs broadly referred to as advanced reactors. It would also:
- Extend the $13-billion liability cap known as the Price-Anderson Act by 20 years to 2045.
- Require annual reports, by 2025, from the Department of Energy on the U.S. nuclear-waste inventory and the associated federal financial liability.
- Mandate that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission assess every three years whether the agency uses “the most efficient metrics and schedules” to issue licenses.
Sen. Shelly Capito (R-W.Va.), the nuclear bill’s sponsor, released a short video announcing the inclusion of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act of 2023 in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Capito’s proposal passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee 16-3 with bipartisan support.
The NDAA is considered one of the only must-pass bills in Congress each year. It sets policy and spending limits for defense programs and, occasionally, attracts rider bills that might not get attention from lawmakers otherwise.
This year, civilian nuclear energy policy is hitching a ride.
