Atomic Energy Advancement Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Atomic Energy Advancement Act
This bill establishes various requirements to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy technologies, such as advanced nuclear reactors.
Specifically, the bill sets forth requirements that direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to efficiently license and regulate nuclear energy activities. The bill also revises the NRC's hiring process to enable the NRC to respond to a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need by using direct hiring for certain positions to carry out NRC's responsibilities and activities in a timely, efficient, and effective manner.
It also reduces certain licensing fees charged by the NRC for advanced nuclear reactors. Further, it authorizes the Department of Energy (DOE) to make awards that pay for certain licensing fees.
Additionally, the bill directs the NRC to promulgate a final rule that implements a process to facilitate efficient and timely environmental reviews of nuclear reactor applications.
The NRC must also develop and implement strategies to enable efficient and timely licensing reviews for, and to support the oversight of, nuclear facilities at brownfield sites, including sites with retired fossil fuel facilities.
Next, the bill sets forth requirements for expediting certain licensing decisions for new nuclear reactors that will use a previously licensed design and will be on or adjacent to a site on which a nuclear reactor already operates or previously operated.
It also authorizes DOE to establish a pilot program under which DOE may make certain long-term power purchase agreements for power generated by commercial nuclear reactors.
Finally, the bill establishes requirements concerning international nuclear energy cooperation and safety.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on February 28, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 29, 2024: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jeff Duncan (R-SC) introduced it on December 1, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 1, 2023, 1014 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 924 days ago, on February 29, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers