If it became law, the White House’s 2023 budget proposal for the Department of Energy’s nuclear power portfolio would include an increase in nuclear fuel cycle research, according to a budget document published Tuesday.
Of the roughly $422 million proposed for DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) fuel cycle research and development program, around $20 million would be used for the department’s ongoing interim storage inquiry, according to DOE’s latest budget-in-brief. In the previous fiscal year, that line item was included in the agency’s Nuclear Waste Fund budget alongside physical security spending for Nevada’s moribund Yucca Mountain repository.
The $422 million fuel cycle program request for 2023 represents some of the biggest proposed spending increases at NE for the coming fiscal year. The 2023 request is up around $101 million from the $320 million fuel cycle R&D received in the 2022 omnibus package Congress passed earlier this month.
The funding reshuffle for NE’s interim storage inquiry comes as the agency is preparing its next steps for the project. A public comment period on DOE’s interim storage efforts closed March 4 and the agency is in the process of reviewing community input. The department has said that it would next provide a funding opportunity for potential host sites to explore interim storage, but has not yet given a timeline for when that would happen.
