The House of Representatives’ $37.6 billion energy and water appropriations bill would give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission slightly more funding than it requested in its latest budget, according to the detailed legislative report released Tuesday. The document was posted one day ahead of the House Appropriations Committee markup of the funding legislation.
The committee recommendation would provide $954.1 million for the industry regulator in fiscal 2018, which begins Oct. 1, including $15 million in carryover funding. The agency asked for $952 million, down by close to $45 million from its 2016 budget.
The House would meet the NRC’s request for $30 million to resume licensing activities for the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The legislation would, in fact, prohibit the agency from using any funds for halting the Yucca license review process or operations that could “remove the possibility” that the storage facility might one day be built.
The Department of Energy would receive another $120 million via the legislation for Yucca licensing work.
The NRC budget would also include $113.1 million for nuclear materials and waste safety oversight operations and $27.9 million for decommissioning and low-level waste activities.
Congress provides 10 percent of the NRC’s annual budget through the appropriations process, with the rest coming from fees on licensees and license applicants.
Separately, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board would receive $30.6 million in funding for fiscal 2018, and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board would get $3.6 million.
Today’s markup is slated to start at 10:30 a.m.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released its version of the energy bill.
