The House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee advanced its fiscal 2027 appropriations bill that would give $1.8 billion to Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and $892.3 million to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The full House Appropriations Committee released the Energy and Water appropriations bill and bill summary on Thursday, and passed it through to the full committee by voice vote Friday. The full committee is slated to mark up the bill Wednesday, May 20.
For the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, this would be higher than President Donald Trump’s White House request of $1.53 billion. This would be a $15 million increase from the $1.785 billion allocated in the fiscal 2026 budget.
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said during an April Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing that while the budget showed a $1.53 billion budget for the nuclear office, an additional $300 million would be allocated to nuclear power through the baseload power budget category. That $300 million will be used to support nuclear power plant uprates and nuclear supply chain equipment upgrades to bolster the energy grid, according to DOE’s fiscal 2027 budget justification budget.
In the House Appropriations Committee’s proposed budget, the increased funding will go towards strengthening the domestic nuclear fuel cycle. The committee also said that the Office of Nuclear Energy’s budget will repurpose prior appropriated funds to accelerate advanced reactors, such as small modular reactor projects.
The bill “increases funding for programs across the entire nuclear fuel cycle, including efforts to advance production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), to strengthen the U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain and reduce reliance on Russian and Chinese nuclear fuel sources,” according to the document.
While DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy sees an increase in the Congressional funding bill, NRC did not. The Energy and Water appropriations bill stays in line with the White House’s fiscal 2027 budget request of $892.3 million for NRC. This represents an 8.1% or $79.1 million decrease from the fiscal 2026 enacted budget of $971.4 million.
House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) said in a Thursday press release that he was “encouraged by the resurgence of American nuclear energy” reflected in the proposed appropriations bill. In April, Fleischmann told Exchange Monitor that he expected to see more funding for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy compared to the White House’s request.
“I am proud of the Fiscal Year 2027 Energy and Water appropriations bill, which responsibly invests taxpayer dollars to accelerate American energy dominance, strengthen our economic prosperity, and safeguard U.S. national security,” Fleischmann said in the release.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) said during the markup meeting that the appropriations bill put an emphasis on energy innovation through putting large investments in nuclear power, artificial intelligence and quantum computing and critical minerals.
While Republicans championed the bill, Ranking Democrat of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) disagreed with the energy and water funding legislation that was released Thursday. Kaptur said in a statement that the bill will lead to higher energy costs.
“The answer to rising costs is not less energy innovation — it is more. Fair pricing and energy independence in perpetuity requires diversifying our energy portfolio,” Kaptur said.
Kaptur added that, “Sadly, this Republican Energy and Water bill does not meet that imperative. This bill fails to address the energy cost crisis. Higher energy bills lie ahead for families and businesses. China is investing [at] record levels in energy, but this bill retreats from US global leadership in building a more diversified clean energy economy for the future.”
Democratic appropriators also took issue with some of the repurposed funding under DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, saying that the appropriations bill makes $2.7 billion available for nuclear reactor demonstrations by revoking $2.7 billion from the Infrastructure Law programs at DOE, according to the Appropriations Committee Democrats bill summary.
During the markup meeting, Kaptur said that the bill should only repurpose funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act if the changes are bipartisan and embrace an all-of-the-above energy strategy. That would include energy technologies such as nuclear fusion, geothermal, electric grid upgrades and advanced nuclear technologies, Kaptur said.