The defense bill, which Congress passed earlier this week, includes two amendments that advocates for commercial nuclear energy are celebrating. The International Nuclear Energy Act establishes working groups and boosts funding and interagency cooperation on the development and export of US nuclear technologies. The NDAA also reauthorizes the US International Development Finance Corporation, a finance institution that’s expected to invest in nuclear power plant and uranium fuel projects.
Those are “big wins” that make nuclear exports more attractive in the global market, Rowen Price, senior policy advisor for nuclear energy at center-left think tank Third Way, says in an email to The Verge.
The bill also directs the Department of Defense to create an executive agent role “for installation and operational nuclear energy.”