SMACNA applauds President Joe Biden's signing of The ADVANCE ACT, legislation that will accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy capacity by speeding up permitting and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
Among the numerous provisions in the ADVANCE Act are the following directives to the NRC:
- Enhance preparedness and coordination to qualify and license advanced reactor fuel.
- Within 18 months, develop risk-informed, performance-based strategies and guidance to license and regulate microreactors.
- Within 180 days, submit a report to Congress on manufacturing and construction for nuclear energy projects.
- Within a year, update its mission statement to convey that licensing and regulation of nuclear energy activities be conducted in a manner that does not unnecessarily limit "the benefits of nuclear energy technology to society."
- Identify and report on regulations, guidance, or policies necessary to license and oversee nuclear facilities at brownfield sites.
The ADVANCE ACT also modernizes licensing requirements to address new technology needs. It identifies regulatory barriers that limit the safe deployment of new nuclear technologies. It also directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to create a pathway for conventional energy source sites to be repurposed in the future. The legislation reauthorizes critical training programs to bolster our skilled and specialized nuclear workforce numbers.
SMACNA has advocated to Congress that expanding nuclear power is critical to decarbonizing the power sector, fighting climate change, and ensuring a reliable electricity supply.
In outlining his support for the legislation, SMACNA CEO Aaron Hilger said, "These new nuclear technologies, including microreactors, are capable of radically reducing carbon emissions but represent just one of the high efficiency, low carbon energy solutions our firms construct and maintain," Hilger emphasized. "Importantly, the legislation would reauthorize critical training programs to bolster our skilled and specialized nuclear workforce numbers."
Please take a moment to read SMACNA's release on President Biden signing The ADVANCE Act.
