A fiscal 2024 spending package signed into law by president Joe Biden will prolong and expand a law that requires federal regulators to limit financial liabilities for operators of nuclear reactors in the event of a dangerous nuclear incident.

The six-bill minibus* legislation package, signed by Biden on 23 March, includes a 40-year extension of the Price-Anderson Act, a law passed in 1957 that is seen as a critical lifeline for the domestic nuclear energy industry.

Without the extension, the nuclear industry’s liability protection would expire at the end of next year.