Dear Chairman Manchin and Ranking Member Barrasso: We write to express our support for the advanced nuclear provisions in the Energy Infrastructure Act being considered by your committee today. Those provisions would authorize additional appropriations for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), establish a new clean energy demonstration program on mine lands, ensure efficient transfer of property interests, and require federal planning to enhance energy resilience with the use of micro nuclear reactors. The bill also makes important changes to the Department of Energy’s loan program, which could provide financing for advanced nuclear projects.
Taken together, the measures in the bill would make progress toward ensuring U.S. leadership in commercializing the next generation of safe, carbon-free, reliable nuclear reactors, thereby providing a valuable tool for achieving global decarbonization goals.