WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation to accelerate licensing for domestic uranium enrichment is critical in building nuclear reactors at scale, panelists told the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy subcommittee Tuesday.
During the House subcommittee hearing, the panelists discussed and reviewed six proposed pieces of nuclear energy-related legislation that subcommittee members said are aimed to further modernize nuclear licensing. Jeremy Harrell, CEO of ClearPath, told Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) that the most pivotal piece of legislation discussed at the hearing was the American Enrichment Deployment Act.
The American Enrichment Deployment Act seeks to align and update the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing processes for uranium enrichment to follow suit with requirements for all other fuel cycle facilities.
Harrell said that the industry has to maximize what the taxpayers that the federal government has put forward towards strengthening domestic uranium enrichment, alluding to the $2.7 billion that the Department of Energy awarded to three United States uranium enrichment companies. He said the draft bill to further streamline licensing processes for uranium enrichment facilities makes a lot of sense.
“We have to meet that Russia timeline, we have to stay at speed [and] it’s a national security imperative,” Harrell said.
Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of Nuclear Energy Institute, and Kathy Huff, former assistant secretary for nuclear energy, both agreed with Harrell.
“I would agree with his assessment of the American Enrichment Deployment Act. I think that’s urgent and necessary to move forward,” Korsnick said.
Several of the lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle agreed that strengthening domestic enrichment capabilities was a national security priority. The importance of domestic uranium enrichment was outlined by the ban on Russian uranium that will go into effect by Jan. 1, 2028, which was noted throughout the hearing.
“Congress has made a conscious decision to reduce reliance on Russian fuel products. We have put billions of dollars of taxpayers’ resources behind new enrichment projects. Why wouldn’t we take some reasonable steps to get project delivery on timeframe,” Harrell said to Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) when discussing national security.