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Summary:
Nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress include the implementation of federal incentives for new commercial reactors, radioactive waste management policy, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, nuclear weapons proliferation, and security against terrorist attacks. The Bush Administration has called for an expansion of nuclear power. For Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear energy research and development and infrastructure, the Administration requested $801.7 million for FY2008, nearly 30% above the FY2007 funding level. The request would have boosted funding for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) from $167.5 million in FY2007 to $395.0 million in FY2008. The FY2008 omnibus appropriations act holds AFCI to $181 million and shifts the mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel program -- totaling $281 million -- to the nuclear energy program from the nuclear nonproliferation program. That brings the nuclear energy total to $970.5 million ($961.7 million with an across-theboard rescission), about 20% above the request. An additional $75.9 million provided in the Other Defense Activities account brings the Office of Nuclear Energy's total spending level to $1.046 billion ($1.037 billion with the rescission). Significant incentives for new commercial reactors were included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58), signed by the President on August 8, 2005. These include production tax credits, loan guarantees, insurance against regulatory delays, and extension of the Price-Anderson Act nuclear liability system. Together with higher fossil fuel prices and the possibility of greenhouse gas controls, the federal incentives for nuclear power have helped spur renewed interest by utilities and other potential reactor developers. Plans for about 30 reactor license applications have been announced, although no commitments have been made to build the plants. No reactor has been ordered in the United States since 1978, and all orders since 1973 were subsequently canceled. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States raised concern about nuclear power plant security. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included several reactor security provisions, including requirements to revise the security threats that nuclear plant guard forces must be able to defeat, regular force-on-force security exercises at nuclear power plants, and the fingerprinting of nuclear facility workers. Disposal of highly radioactive waste has been one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear power. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-425), as amended in 1987, requires DOE to conduct a detailed physical characterization of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a permanent underground repository for high-level waste. DOE had planned to submit a license application for the Yucca Mountain repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by June 30, 2008, with the repository to open by 2017 at the earliest. However, a substantial budget reduction in FY2008 is likely to cause delays, according to program officials. This report will be updated as events warrant.
