Ohio Supreme Court stops collection of nuclear plant subsidy

As reported by the Associated Press. as well as the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Nuclear Power Provisions Included in Congressional Appropriations Bill

Analysis provided by Tim Judson, NIRS:

From: Tim Judson <timj@nirs.org>

Date: December 23, 2020 at 4:06:31 PM EST
Subject: RE: approps bill nuclear inclusions

The funding to DOE for waste disposal was not the only funds for nuclear in the appropriations bill – that’s just what was in the “ordinary” part of the bill, along with funding for NRC, NNSA, and DOE’s labs and weapons complex activities.

But there was a huge omnibus energy bill that was appended to the appropriations bill, which authorizes over $11 billion in funding to specific DOE nuclear energy and waste R&D projects over the next five years. That is more than the total amount for all renewable energy R&D in the bill, and about one-third as much as for all renewables combined, including the extensions of the production tax credits.

Here are some more detailed notes on what happened:

The appropriations and COVID relief bill includes the Energy Act of 2020. Initially, that was to include three bad stand-alone nuclear bills we have been fighting in their entirety:

• Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) -- H.R.3306 / S.903
• Nuclear Energy Renewal Act (NERA) -- S.2368
• Integrated Energy Systems Act (IESA) -- S.2702

In the end, between the emails, phone calls, and a sign-on letter, we were able to get some of the worst provisions of those bills removed, so the final bill only includes parts the bills.

• The NELA provision authorizing DOE to enter into 40-year, above-market-price contracts to buy electricity from small modular reactors was taken out. That is key to stopping the NuScale SMR project in Idaho.
• Also, the Trump administration’s Nuclear Energy Strategic Plan was taken out. And the provision requiring DOE to construct the $6 billion versatile test reactor was also taken out.
• A provision from another bill that would have provided direct subsidies to existing nuclear reactors through an investment tax credit was also removed (the Nuclear Powers America Act – H.R. 2314 / S. 1134).

It does include a bunch of things we oppose, but most of them are not going to have a immediate impact on the construction of new reactors or preventing the closure of existing reactors:

• It obligates DOE to invest $435 million over the next 5 years in R&D on to cut operating costs and otherwise prop up old, uneconomical reactors instead of focusing on new, promising, economical energy sources that actually have a future:

•  
  • R&D on things that could cut costs on maintenance and safety, through “accident-tolerant fuels” and other measures
  • requires DOE to help streamline the 80-year relicensing process for old reactors (though NRC is actually in charge of relicensing)
  • provides $160 million for two demonstration projects for “cogeneration” applications, including producing hydrogen, desalination, district heating, industrial process heat, etc.

• The bill retains a modified version of the provision requiring DOE to support nuclear reactor demonstration projects, with $2.1 billion in funding over the next five years (2021-2025).

•  
  • It also includes $2.3 billion for R&D infrastructure, which I suspect could still be allocated to building the versatile test reactor (VTR). The bill requires DOE to do other R&D projects, as well, so the $2.3 billion will not go to constructing the VTR – it wouldn’t be enough funding for what is projected to be $6 billion project anyway.

• Overall, there is a danger that this bill could bind the Biden administration to pursuing a Trump-era nuclear energy agenda at DOE. Based on his transition team, it looks to me like Biden is interested in charting an ambitious path forward on climate, renewables, and energy innovation, with or without nuclear. This bill could gum that up by wasting more than $11 billion and tying up DOE’s capacity working on nuclear power.

• The bill promotes reprocessing through R&D, with over $925 million in appropriations:

•  
  • $300 million for “Used Nuclear Fuel Research, Demonstration, and Commercial Application”
  • $625 million for “Advanced Fuels.”

• It dials back support for commercialization of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HA-LEU), by focusing on using existing feedstocks, such as downblending weapons-grade uranium. (HA-LEU is uranium enriched to 5.0-19.99% uranium-235, which would be used in certain types of new reactors.)

•  
  • It also has a provision that discourages acquisition of uranium for HA-LEU from mines that impact Indigenous peoples.
  • But it still promotes production of HA-LEU for commercial purposes. That has serious proliferation and safety concerns, including criticality accidents in enrichment, storage, and transport.

• It also spends $5 billion on fusion reactor R&D, including $4.7 billion in investments in the ITER fusion reactor project in Europe.

Tim Judson
Executive Director
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 340
Takoma Park, MD 20912
O: 301-270-6477
E: TimJ@nirs.org
W: www.nirs.org

OUTRAGEOUS: $11 Billion for nukes in COVID relief bill

"Burning Money" image by Gene Case/Avening Angels. Used with permission. The image graced the cover of The Nation magazine in 2003, accompanying a feature article about the nuclear power relapse by Christian Parenti.NUCLEAR CHRISTMAS TREE BILL

$11 billion for nukes in COVID legislation

The nuclear lobby's Christmas stockings have been stuffed by Congress. The Washington Post reports that a whopping $11 billion in nuclear-related subsidies, compliments of U.S. taxpayers, have been included in the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill just passed by both houses of congress. It appears that many of the giveaways are included in Section II, NUCLEAR, beginning at Page 3,288 of the 5,593-page bill. However, scores of "nuclear" references, both power and weapons-related, can be found scattered throughout the legislation.

This latest shocking round of subsidization for the already filthy-rich nuclear power industry comes on top of many hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies given to it over the past many decades.

Update on December 29, 2020 by admin

See a more detailed break down of the nuclear power subsidies included in the legislation.

Ohio judge blocks nuclear bailout fees from House Bill 6

As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Brown said to allow the House Bill 6 nuclear bailout fee "would be to allow certain parties to prevail. It would give the OK that bribery is allowed in the state of Ohio and that any ill-gotten gains can be received. All you’ve got to do is find the right legislator, find the right speaker of the House."

Billion Dollar Plant Vogtle Tab Could Be On The Line With PSC Runoff

As reported by GPB, Georgia Public Broadcasting.

See also coverage by The Intercept on this Public Service Commission runoff election: "The Other Race on Georgia's January Ballot: The Runoff for Georgia's Public Service Commission is a Referendum on the Powerful Energy Company Georgia Power."