The total appropriation for the Department of Energy is $42bn, which is $3.45bn above the level enacted in 2020 and $6.3bn above the budget request. This includes $1.5bn for nuclear energy research, development and demonstration, including $280m for the Advanced Reactors Demonstration Programme, which was announced in May.
The plan still needs to be signed by president Donald Trump, but he said this week he would ask Congress to “amend” the bill. Among other changes he wants to increase a $600 direct payment for every American adult to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple.
The relief and stimulus provisions were attached to a wider appropriations bill to fund the federal government and avert a government shutdown. If the president does not sign the legislation by the start of next week, the federal government will be shut down from December 29.
The plan includes $27.5m for DOE expenses for nuclear waste disposal, including interim storage.
The plan includes $150m for a uranium reserve to address challenges to the production of domestic uranium.
Establishment of a uranium reserve was recommended in April by a presidential working group which analysed the entire nuclear fuel supply chain. The reserve would ensure a backup supply of uranium in the event of a significant market disruption and support the operation of at least two US uranium mines.
Mr Trump ordered the working group after a petition from two US uranium miners, Energy Fuels Inc and Ur-Energy Corporation, which called for a quota on uranium imports.
In October, Mr Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency in the mining industry, aimed at boosting domestic production of rare earth minerals critical for military technologies, including uranium, while reducing the country’s dependence on China.
The US nuclear industry welcomed the legislation. The Washington-based Nuclear Energy Institute said it demonstrates growing confidence in nuclear power while building on efforts to ensure nuclear energy is properly valued alongside wind and solar in the United States’ carbon-free energy future.
