The New Atomic Age: Advancing America's Energy Future

Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs

2025-07-22

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This hearing discussed the potential of nuclear energy, particularly advanced technologies like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Micro Modular Reactors (MMRs), alongside the contentious debate regarding the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) role, regulatory efficiency, and the critical balance between promoting innovation and ensuring public safety.[ 00:17:07-00:17:15 ] [ 00:22:19-00:22:26 ]

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Themes

The Promise of Advanced Nuclear Technology

Advanced nuclear technologies, such as SMRs and MMRs, are presented as pivotal innovations for achieving U.S. energy independence and securing a reliable electrical grid.[ 00:16:48 ] These reactors promise to be more capital-effective, efficient, scalable, and safer, with features that eliminate meltdown risk and allow for recycled fuel use.[ 00:17:38 ] The Department of Energy and the Energy Information Agency project significant increases in electricity consumption due to AI and data center demands, for which nuclear power is deemed the answer.[ 00:18:01 ] The technology is considered ready, with prototypes already developed, and the primary obstacle is identified as burdensome regulatory permitting.[ 00:18:43 ]

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 Some companies are reportedly building SMRs abroad due to U.S. regulatory barriers.[ 00:40:16 ]

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Regulatory Reform and the NRC

A central theme is the critique of the NRC as a "slow-moving bureaucratic mess" that has constrained nuclear power deployment for decades.[ 00:16:22 ] President Trump's executive orders aim to reduce "overburdensome regulations," mandate 18-month license application rulings, and promote domestic uranium mining and fuel recycling.[ 00:16:22 ] Recommendations for NRC reform include aggressively stripping out licensing inefficiencies, making General Environmental Impact Statements (GEISs) the default, reevaluating the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation, and establishing nuclear innovation zones on federal lands.

Conversely, concerns were raised that the Trump administration's "wholesale attack" on the NRC could jeopardize its independence and safety standards, potentially leading to disasters and eroding public confidence. The NRC's safety requirements are considered the "global gold standard," and its independence is deemed crucial for the industry's long-term interests and U.S. reactor vendors' international reputation.[ 00:22:59 ]

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 While streamlining processes is supported, a "knee-jerk reaction" of deregulation without careful consideration is feared to put communities at risk.

Safety, Historical Context, and Public Confidence

While nuclear power has a strong safety record in the U.S. with no civilian reactor radiation-related deaths in 50 years, this is attributed to stringent rules and regulations.[ 00:22:42 ]

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 Speakers cited historical incidents like the Hanford Nuclear Production Facility and the Fukushima disaster to emphasize the devastating consequences of mismanagement and the necessity of robust regulation.[ 00:23:03 ]

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 The Three Mile Island accident, though not causing radiation-related deaths, led to significant regulatory changes to prevent future incidents and maintain public confidence. There is a strong emphasis on maintaining a "healthy nuclear safety culture" and avoiding prioritizing speed over safety to prevent a major incident from derailing the entire nuclear effort.

Economic and Policy Approaches

The discussion touched upon the economic viability of nuclear power, with some advocating for a free-market approach rather than taxpayer subsidies.[ 00:42:51 ]

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 Critics argued that subsidies for intermittent renewable energy sources distort the market and increase costs for reliable power. The high levelized cost of energy for advanced nuclear compared to solar and wind was noted, as was the ongoing challenge of nuclear waste disposal like at San Onofre.[ 01:00:13 ]

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 Beyond NRC reforms, broader issues such as transmission, interconnection, and permitting bottlenecks for large-scale infrastructure also impede nuclear development. States are increasingly taking the lead in promoting nuclear development and seeking policy changes to enable it.

Tone

The tone of the meeting was largely serious and deliberative, reflecting the gravity of energy policy and safety.[ 00:15:51 ] There was a clear divergence of opinions, with some advocating for aggressive deregulation to unleash nuclear potential, viewing current regulations as historical failures.[ 00:16:17 ] Others expressed strong caution, emphasizing the paramount importance of independent safety regulations and public trust, especially given past incidents and the inherent risks of nuclear fission.[ 00:22:44 ]

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 Despite these differences, there was a shared recognition of nuclear energy's potential role in future energy needs and a desire to explore ways to streamline processes safely.[ 00:22:19 ]

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Participants

Transcript

This hearing of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs will come to order.  Welcome everyone to this hearing.  Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time.  I recognize myself for an opening statement.   A new age for nuclear power has started, led by President Trump's four recent executive orders on nuclear energy and congressional action to reinvigorate the nuclear industry.  President Trump's orders call for permitting reform and the reduction of overburdensome regulations from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has become a slow-moving bureaucratic mess, constraining and delaying expansion of US nuclear power deployment for decades.   Under President Trump's orders, the NRC must rule on reactor license applications within 18 months, a dramatic shift from the ambiguous open-ended timelines of the past.   President Trump's orders also promote expanding domestic mining, enrichment of uranium and other reactor fuels, and nuclear fuel recycling.  These groundbreaking actions will power United States energy independence and provide a secure and reliable U.S.  electrical grid, something that we must obtain as the AI revolution places surging demands on our electricity capacity.   At the heart of nuclear power's resurgence are two key innovations, small and micro modular reactors.  These new reactors promise the U.S.  will have a strong answer to future energy demands.  They'll be more capital effective, more efficient, and more scalable for both on and off grid sites here in the United States.  Moreover, they offer enhanced safety features.   eliminate the risk of meltdowns, and can use recycled fuel from other reactors.  The Department of Energy predicts that 12% of electricity consumption in the United States in the year 2028 will come from data centers which require constant and consistent electricity.
And the Energy Information Agency recently projected that the U.S.  power consumption will reach all-time highs this year and next, in part due to AI and data center demand.   Nuclear power is the answer to data centers growing appetite for stable energy.  I recently toured two prototype micro modular reactors being developed here in the United States.  I can confidently say the technology is ready.  What is holding nuclear back is the onerous and capital intensive regulatory permitting burden placed on nuclear energy expansion.   Under the Trump administration, the federal government is waking up to the roadblock that nuclear power has faced for decades.  The federal government, not technology, has been in the way.  Congress should and will be watching for the fruits of the administration's actions and eager to cooperate in achieving this lasting change.   Nuclear power in the age of SMRs and MMRs isn't just safe, it's essential.  It is our best shot at securing clean, reliable American energy independence.  And with that, I yield to ranking member Frost for his opening statement.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you so much for the witnesses for being here today.   I'm glad that we're discussing the potential of nuclear energy.  With our climate in crisis, we have to get over our addiction of fossil fuels and diversifying our energy mix is essential for our national security and bringing down the cost of energy for Americans.   I believe nuclear is part of that solution.  According to one study, replacing fossil fuels with nuclear power has prevented almost two million deaths worldwide from air pollution, as well as 64 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions.  We're lucky that nuclear power has a strong safety record in the United States.  However, though, this does not mean that it's inherently safe.   It means that the rules and regulations that prevent a nuclear accident have helped us keep us safe for more than 45 years.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or the NRC, is the independent agency responsible for protecting public health and safety by regulating nuclear reactors, and the safety requirements it sets are considered the global gold standard for a reason.   Before the United States became the world leader in nuclear safety regulation, loosely supervised government contractors exposed workers and the public to vast quantities of poorly stored radioactive waste at facilities across the country.  Our government failed at protecting our people and exposed many communities to harm.  Take, for example, the families who lived and worked around the Hanford Nuclear Production Facility in Washington State.   In the era prior to effective regulation, farm workers like Maria Niagasio and her family would drink from and bathe in river contaminated by waste from the nearby reactors and plutonium processing facilities.  They ate crops that were poisoned by these facilities as well.   Maria's mother died of cancer at 60 and tumors develop in both her brothers and her son's heads.
We are living, as one government website explains, Maria's family, quote, and thousands of other farm workers were likely victims of the effects of radiation from the Hanford nuclear facility, end quote.  We're still living with the legacy of government mismanagement and corporate   issues as it relates to nuclear but look also internationally as well look at the 2011 Fukushima reactor disaster in Japan the incident forced more than 150,000 people to evacuate their homes and the ongoing decontamination efforts are projected to continue for decades actually in my first term as a new member of Congress I had the opportunity to travel to Fukushima and spent the day there with a radiation suit on and a Geiger counter   But I learned about the lessons that Japan has learned from that disaster and how they're forging forward, especially as it relates to SMRs.  I'm not here to fearmonger.  I'm not an anti-nuclear person.

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