Up & Atom

President Donald Trump recently established the National Energy Dominance Council through an executive order aimed at increasing the United States’ energy production and achieving energy dominance. The executive order seeks to promote the use of US natural resources, including uranium, and the Council has been tasked with providing recommendations to the president within 100 days, including actions that can be taken to bring small modular nuclear reactors online.

A recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reinstated claims seeking indemnification under the Price-Anderson Act. In reversing a decision by the US Court of Federal Claims, the Federal Circuit affirmed the broad scope of the Price-Anderson Act’s contractual indemnity provision. In particular, the Federal Circuit found that the Price-Anderson Act requires the government to indemnify more entities than just those that directly contracted with the government. Instead, the statutory language contemplates indemnity to “any other person who may be liable for public liability.”

The US Department of Energy’s failure to transport and store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act has required the government to reimburse the industry for substantial storage costs, and future payments are expected to increase. The DOE expects that its SNF liability has increased approximately 10% within the past year. While there are no expectations for a spent fuel storage solution in the United States anytime soon, other countries are establishing nuclear waste repositories.

The House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security held a hearing on April 10, 2024 to examine federal responsibility for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), along with opportunities for mitigating disposal challenges—such as through reprocessing and recycling fuel—to advance nuclear energy for the nation.

With the change of a single number, Congress has provided continued support for the nuclear power industry by renewing the Price-Anderson Act. Congress amended Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (commonly known as the Price-Anderson Act or PAA) by changing its expiration date to December 31, 2065 from December 31, 2025. Congress also increased fourfold the liability coverage for DOE contractors for a nuclear incident occurring outside the United States to $2 billion from $500 million. Finally, Congress revised the definition of “nuclear incident” to remove requirements for the underlying nuclear material.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has published a final rule increasing civil monetary penalties (CMPs) for unintentional violations of 10 CFR Part 810 (Part 810). The rule, which took effect on January 9, 2024, increases the maximum CMP from $120,816 to $124,732 per violation per day. The increased penalty aligns with DOE’s mandate to annually adjust CMPs for inflation.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) and request for comments in the Federal Register proposing a comprehensive revision of the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR). DOE’s proposal strives to update and streamline the DEAR’s policies, procedures, provisions, and clauses. DOE invites the public to submit written comments regarding this NOPR through the Federal eRulemaking Portal by no later than December 26, 2023.

In a final rule published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2023, the NRC amended its regulations at 10 CFR 140.11 to increase the amount of third-party liability coverage required under the Price-Anderson Act, Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 USC 2210) (Price-Anderson) for large reactor licensees (i.e., reactors with a rated capacity of ≥100 MWe) from $450 million to $500 million per incident.

In a Federal Register Notice published September 5, 2023, the NRC amended its regulations to be effective October 5, 2023, to adjust for inflation the maximum total and annual deferred premium amounts for the “secondary layer” of offsite liability coverage, as required by the Price-Anderson Act, as amended, Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 USC 2210) (Price-Anderson).

The Nine Mile Point nuclear power station in Oswego, New York began producing hydrogen in March 2023 as part of a demonstration project sponsored by the US Department of Energy. Although Nine Mile Point produced hydrogen solely for internal use, the project validates that reliable and emission-free nuclear energy can be used to produce clean-burning hydrogen.