The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted to send S. 4897, the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020, to the Senate floor on December 2. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) sponsored the bill, with Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) as bipartisan cosponsors.
The bill, which was introduced in the Senate on November 16, is divided into five titles, each poised to accomplish important objectives. These include reestablishing international competitiveness and global leadership in the nuclear industry; expanding on advanced nuclear technologies; preserving existing nuclear energy generation; revitalizing America’s nuclear supply chain infrastructure; and implementing several incentives and requirements related to the nuclear energy workforce, nuclear waste in the United States, and environmental cleanup programs.
Senator Whitehouse said the bill “creates a mechanism to put a value on the carbon-free nature of nuclear energy,” and Senator Barrasso commented that “[i]nnovation, not regulations and taxes…is the best way to address climate change.”
The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill in 2021. We will continue to monitor the bill’s progression through the legislative process.