The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) announced Wednesday that the House Appropriations Committee approved a $35-billion energy and water bill that allocates $936 million for the nation's nuclear energy projects.
The bill also cuts the budget of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) due to recommendations by the NRC to improve efficiency. According to the NEI announcement, the operating budget for the NRC is approximately $1 billion.
"It is gratifying to see strong support for nuclear energy remaining a vital component of a diversified electricity portfolio that will strengthen our energy security,” NEI Senior Vice President Alex Flint said. “The Nuclear Energy Institute would particularly like to thank Energy and Water Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson and the subcommittee’s ranking member, Marcy Kaptur, for their leadership, as well as the committee staff for their hard work."
The committee specifically set aside a total of $175 million for the continuation of licensing a nuclear fuel repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
“The nuclear energy industry believes the appropriations committee has acted properly and decisively with immediate, concrete action to right-size the NRC’s budget,” Flint said. “As the NRC itself acknowledges in its Project Aim report, the public interest and the agency’s safety mission will be better served once the NRC is right-sized and increases discipline throughout its regulatory processes."
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