ICYMI: Carper’s Bipartisan Nuclear Energy Bill, the ADVANCE Act, Heads To President’s Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, celebrated Senate passage last week of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act as part of the Fire Grants and Safety Act (S. 870). S. 870 passed the Senate with a vote of 88-2, and is now headed to the president’s desk. The full text of the bill, co-authored and introduced with EPW Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), can be found here.

Check out more in Reuters, Sirius XM, CNN, WGMD, E&E News, E&E News, Politico Pro, Bloomberg Government, The Hill, Huffpost, Engadget, National Journal and CNET or see more below:

 

REUTERS: U.S. Senate passes bill to support advanced nuclear energy deployment

By: Staff

June 19, 2024

[…] Expanding nuclear power has broad bipartisan support, with Democrats seeing it as critical to decarbonizing the power sector to fight climate change and Republicans viewing it as a way to ensure reliable electricity supply and create jobs. […]

“In a major victory for our climate and American energy security, the U.S. Senate has passed the ADVANCE Act with overwhelming, bipartisan support,” said Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat, who is Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. […]

 

SIRIUS XM: The Julie Mason Show

June 20, 2024

Chairman Carper: [The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s] job is to make sure that the nuclear fleet in this country operates safely, reliably. And, the legislation that Senator Capito and I have written has been endorsed by an … 88-2 vote in the Senate this week, and the president is waiting to sign it. I think this gets the job done in terms of safety that we need for this form of energy. […]

 

CNN: The Senate just passed a critical clean energy bill to pave the way for more nuclear

By: Ella Nilsen

June 19, 2024

[…] The bill represents one of the most significant actions Congress has taken to advance clean energy since Democrats narrowly passed the Inflation Reduction Act almost two years ago. And it comes as the US tries to revive an aging nuclear energy industry at home and bolster cutting-edge technologies abroad. […]

 

WGMD: Senate Passes Nuclear Energy Bill – the ADVANCE Act

By: Joe Ciccanti

June 19, 2024

Bipartisan legislation to support the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies now heads to the President’s desk. The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act passed the Senate with a vote of 88-2. Senator Tom Carper calls it a major victory for our climate and American energy security, adding that the legislation will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the tools and workforce it needs to review new nuclear technologies efficiently, while maintaining the NRC’s critical safety mission and creating thousands of new jobs. Senator Carper also says with the president’s signature, the ADVANCE Act will become the law of the land and lay the foundation for the safe and successful deployment of the next generation of advanced reactors in the coming decades.

 

E&E NEWS: Bipartisan nuclear package heads to Biden's desk

By: Andres Picon

June 18, 2024

[…] The “ADVANCE Act” “will strengthen America's leadership on nuclear energy and provide climate leadership on the world stage,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and one of the bill’s architects, said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

“The United States will now be able to realize the potential of this carbon-free energy source,” he said. […]

 

E&E NEWS: How a nuclear bill became this Congress’ first big energy win

By: Andres Picon

June 20, 2024

In what has become an exceedingly rare phenomenon, lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week reached across the aisle and coalesced around a piece of energy legislation to send it to President Joe Biden’s desk. […]

Senators passed the original version of the “ADVANCE Act” as part of the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill, but it was excluded from the final version as lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pushed their own nuclear energy bill, H.R. 6544, the “Atomic Energy Advancement Act.” It was sponsored by Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).

Capito, Carper, Duncan and DeGette spent months negotiating the current compromise bill and finally reached an agreement earlier this spring. […]

 

POLITICO PRO: Congress passes bipartisan nuclear bill in a bid to revive the struggling sector

By: Josh Siegel

June 18, 2024

Biden’s national climate adviser, Ali Zaidi, praised the bill on X, and credited the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Wyo.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), for leading the bipartisan effort.

“We benefit from more tools in the toolbox as we take on the climate crisis — with the urgency the moment demands,” Zaidi said.

 

BLOOMBERG GOVERNMENT: Nuclear Industry Domestic Production Bill Heads to Biden’s Desk

By: Kellie Lunney

June 18, 2024

[…] Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) are among the supporters of the package. Carper said on Tuesday the three lawmakers have worked “tirelessly” on the nuclear language “for years.” […]

 

HUFFPOST: Congress Just Passed The Biggest Clean-Energy Bill Since Biden's Climate Law

By: Alexander C. Kaufman

June 18, 2024

The Senate voted nearly unanimously Tuesday evening to pass major legislation designed to reverse the American nuclear industry’s decades-long decline and launch a reactor-building spree to meet surging demand for green electricity at home and to catch up with booming rivals overseas. […]

It is widely considered the most significant clean-energy legislation to pass since the president’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. […]

 

ENGADGET: Congress passes sweeping pro-nuclear energy bill

By: Sarah Fielding

June 19, 2024

The ADVANCE Act aims to expand the nation's nuclear energy industry by creating incentives and reducing the time and cost of building nuclear reactors. […]

In a statement following the bill's passage, US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chairman Tom Carper stated, "The ADVANCE Act will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the tools and workforce it needs to review new nuclear technologies efficiently, while maintaining the NRC's critical safety mission and creating thousands of jobs." […]

 

NATIONAL JOURNAL: [OUTLOOK] Senate passes sweeping legislation to advance nuclear energy

By: Lauren Green

June 18, 2024

The most sweeping nuclear-energy legislation in years is heading to President Biden’s desk.

[…] The legislation, which aims to boost development and deployment of next-generation nuclear-energy technology, is one of the biggest energy and climate bills since Congress passed the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. […]

“Ultimately, this bill addresses the most pressing needs of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and will lay the foundation for the safe and successful deployment of the next generation of advanced reactors,” Carper said on the Senate floor. “As a result, you'll strengthen America's leadership on nuclear energy and provide climate leadership on the world stage.

“These resources will enable the commission to provide the certainty needed to deploy more clean energy and to make sure that our commitment to safety remains paramount at this crucial moment in the history of our planet,” he said.

 

CNET: Bill to Expand US Nuclear Power Capacity Heads to Biden’s Desk After Senate Vote

By: Omar Gallaga

June 19, 2024

[…] The Advance Act, which in May passed the House with bipartisan support, would incentivize creating and deploying new nuclear reactor technologies and reduce costs for companies who want to license such technologies. […]

"With the president's signature, the ADVANCE Act will become the law of the land and lay the foundation for the safe and successful deployment of the next generation of advanced reactors in the coming decades," Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat and chairman of the US Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, said in a statement. […]

 

###