Welcome to your Friday Rundown for an eventful National Clean Energy Week, ending Sept. 28. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
HOUSE APPROVES BIPARTISAN NUKE ACT
House lawmakers addressed another impediment to growing U.S.-led advanced nuclear technologies by approving a bipartisan plan to update the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing and other oversight.
The Nuclear Utilization of Keynote Energy (NUKE) Act would modernize NRC’s fee structure, expedite licensing and examine other potential benefits to the nuclear industry. The bill – led by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and cosponsored by Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Democrats Mike Doyle (Pa.) and Gene Green (Texas) – sets deadlines for major applications and other efforts to streamline licensing, and authorizes studies to reconsider outdated regulations of the Atomic Energy Act.
It also includes provisions to limit how much NRC can collect for overhead costs tied to running the agency to ensure adequate funding is spent to develop a regulatory framework for advanced reactors without overcharging. It also caps fees for existing reactors at 2016 levels.
“The NUKE Act helps preserve U.S. advanced nuclear jobs, production and leadership by establishing reasonable deadlines and reconsidering outdated regulations,” ClearPath Action Executive Director Rich Powell said. “We are losing ground to countries like China and Russia and this is another piece of the strategy to help us stay apace.”
NEICA TO BE SIGNED INTO LAW
President Trump Friday is expected to sign into law the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act, a bipartisan plan that would strengthen partnerships between the private sector and government researchers to test and demonstrate the next generation of clean advanced nuclear reactor concepts.
The bill, led by Sens. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and others, was approved by the House this month and the Senate in March. Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) had also been pushing similar legislation for years.
NEICA authorizes the development of a versatile neutron source for advanced reactor testing.
The bill also directs the Department of Energy to prioritize partnering with private innovators to test and demonstrate advanced nuclear reactor concepts. That includes creating a National Reactor Innovation Center combining the technical expertise at our world-leading national labs and DOE to spark the construction of demonstration reactors.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would also be a partner in the effort, allowing early interactions with developers and potentially leading to the expediting of licensing as the technologies mature toward commercialization.
SMALL MODULAR REACTOR EFFORT REACHES NEW MILESTONE
The decision by the three primary owners of Plant Vogtle to continue building two new AP1000 nuclear reactors is important short-term momentum for the nation’s most reliable zero-emission power source and potential long-term supply chain certainty.
But critical to the future of next-generation U.S. nuclear power was the announcement this week that NuScale Power selected Virginia-based BWXTechnologies, Inc. (BWXT) to start the engineering work to manufacture NuScale’s landmark small modular reactor. The decision follows an 18-month selection process that had drawn interest from 83 companies based in 10 countries.
BWXT will immediately start work on this first manufacturing phase of NuScale’s SMR, which is expected to continue through June 2020. NRC is scheduled to complete its review of NuScale’s Design Certification application in September 2020. NuScale’s first customer, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, is on track to deploy the country’s first SMR plant in the mid-2020s.
RELATED READ: A new report from The Breakthrough Institute, R Street Institute and ClearPath’s Spencer Nelson says a path forward for new U.S. nuclear development are microreactors that “can leverage America’s comparative advantage: our unrivaled innovation system and entrepreneurial business culture.” That will require policy changes, some of which are incorporated in the bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act led by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
CLEARPATH JOINS CLEAN CAPITALIST COALITION
ClearPath is an inaugural member of the Clean Capitalist Coalition, a broad collection of advanced energy and free-market advocates and experts focused on creating and promoting innovative policy ideas that reduce barriers to clean energy.
The four main principles:
Remove regulatory, tax, and trade barriers to increase market participation and competition by large- and small-businesses and individuals
Establish and maintain a level playing-field for clean technologies, products, and services characterized by diminishing pollution and harm
Expand economic rights and freedoms, especially for activities that conserve and reduce harm
Build a bigger, more powerful, more open, global clean free market.
Other coalition members include the American Council for Capital Formation, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Forum.
“Empowering American innovators to reduce the cost of clean energy technologies and reducing unnecessary government barriers to deployment can unlock billions of dollars of private sector investment in new clean energy projects,” said ClearPath Managing Director-Policy Jeremy Harrell. “By exploring common-sense free market policy solutions rooted in these principles, the Clean Capitalist Coalition intends to elevate the energy policy debate in Washington and ultimately bolster long-term American clean energy growth.”
ADVANCED NUCLEAR, CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS TOUTED AT SYMPOSIUM
A Sept. 26 policymakers symposium highlighted the second annual National Clean Energy Week, spearheaded by Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions and co-sponsored by ClearPath and others.
Among the main takeaways:
Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) explained his draft Emerging Energy Technology Credit idea, which would be an incentive for new and innovative techs that scales down as production scales up. Reed said it would be technology-neutral, while allowing for both new technologies and advanced retrofits to be eligible. The intent would be to “get back to the essentials of encouraging cutting-edge technologies back into the market” through a market-based and market-driven incentive.
Chairman Murkowski touted hydropower, nuclear, carbon capture and other clean energy accomplishments this Congress: “These are real accomplishments but there is so much more that i think we can, should and must do.” That includes advancing next-generation nuclear as called for in her bipartisan NELA. “We have to come up with a set of reasonably imminent policies that will restore our status” as the global leader, she said.
NUCLEAR: THE EVER-CHANGING GLOBAL CLEAN ENERGY WORKHORSE
Nuclear power is finally beginning to be sufficiently recognized as the workhorse of the global clean energy sector. But it won’t look like it does now if it is going to achieve its full potential.
The virtues of the current nuclear fleet – namely its carbon-free power and 24/7 reliability – must be coupled with the ever-changing demands of our global energy industry. That includes new technologies that make it smaller and highly scalable for use in cities and remote areas and allow for high-temperature use to decarbonize heavy industrial processes.
ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell and graphics wizard Mitch Kersey condensed this argument into a nifty 82-second whiteboard video, showcased this week by the Washington DC 100 project by Story Partners.
The Energy Policy Institute at the Univ. of Chicago, in partnership with ClearPath, the American Council for Capital Formation and the Univ. of Oxford, is hosting an Oct. 10 event in Washington, DC, on “Clean Energy Innovation: Making the Most of R&D Investments.” The event features academic researchers, policymakers and businesspeople from the U.S. and U.K. to provide insight into how to translate research findings into actionable policy and industry approaches that can drive clean energy innovation. RSVP
