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In recent years, and even immediately following the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in March 2011, a majority of American people have supported nuclear energy. A recent Gallup opinion poll from March 2019 suggests that the US public is now evenly divided, with the reduced support possibly linked to the perception that nuclear energy’s costcompetitiveness is challenged by other technologies, including cheap natural gas as well as wind and solar power (Reinhart, 2019).

Over the past six years, several reactors have shut down for economic reasons, before reaching the end of their operation licences. As the share of other energy sources – notably natural gas and renewables – continues to increase, that of nuclear power is likely to decline, which might have an impact on the resilience and stability of the US electricity system. The electricity market regulator in the United States is currently assessing how to value resilience. In parallel, some states are introducing measures to help nuclear generators stay in the market by valuing their contribution to low-carbon electricity generation.

The nuclear sector provides about half a million jobs (according to the Nuclear Energy Institute), and the administration is reviewing the country’s nuclear energy policy to revive and expand the sector, including by streamlining regulatory processes and promoting innovation, and by supporting the completion of the Vogtle new-build project. For nuclear power to remain an important source of electricity in the United States, both technological and market/policy developments are needed. Small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced nuclear systems that can integrate better with variable renewable energy sources can provide new opportunities. Finally, the United States needs to develop a system for safe disposal and long-term storage of nuclear waste.

Institutional oversight and regulation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for regulating the nuclear industry and is in charge of reactor safety oversight, reactor licence renewal for existing plants, materials safety oversight and materials licensing for a variety of purposes, as well as waste management of both high-level waste and low-level waste. It also evaluates applications for new plants, including the licensing of advanced reactors such as SMRs. The NRC was established as an independent regulator in 1974, and is headed by five commissioners appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for fiveyear mandates, one of whom is designated by the president to be the chairperson of the NRC.

The NRC receives its funding from Congress on a yearly basis. However, it is required by law to recover approximately 90% of its annual budget from the applicants for NRC licences, in particular the utilities that operate the country’s 98 reactors. Collected money is then given back to the US Treasury. The two main laws that govern the NRC’s fee recovery are the Independent Offices Appropriation Act of 1952 and the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990, as amended.

The NRC licenses NPPs for an initial term of 40 years. Currently operating NPPs have been licensed under a two-step process described in Title 10 of the Code of Federal

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Regulations (10 CFR) under Part 50. This process requires both a construction permit and an operating licence. Over a plant's lifetime, safety is ensured through maintenance of the plant and its unique licensing basis. A plant's licensing basis is a specific set of evolving requirements and commitments. Over time, as technology advances and operating experience provides new information, a plant's licensing basis may change – for example, when the NRC issues new requirements and the plant has to make modifications.

Since the start of the nuclear industry in the United States, a total of 102 reactors have received licences and been built. The vast majority of the nuclear fleet is located in eastern and Midwestern states.

Following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the NRC issued new requirements including: adding capabilities to maintain key safety functions following a large-scale natural disaster; updating evaluations on the potential impact from seismic and flooding events; new equipment to better handle potential core damage events; and strengthening emergency preparedness capabilities.

Licences may be renewed for periods of up to 20 years, with no limit on the number of renewals. The first licence renewal application (for a total of 60 years) was approved in March 2000. Today, 90 out of the country’s 98 units have received a licence renewal. An additional four units were also granted a licence renewal but have been prematurely shut down.

Some operators have already applied for a second licence renewal, which the NRC calls “subsequent license renewal” (SLR). The NRC is currently reviewing six applications to operate for a total of 80 years, and a further two are expected by 2020 (see Table 10.1).

Table 10.1 Status of SLR (80 years of operation)

Source: US NRC (2019).

The NRC is also reviewing applications to build new reactors. In an effort to improve regulatory efficiency and add greater predictability to the process, the NRC in 1989 established alternative licensing processes in 10 CFR Part 52 that included a combined licence (COL). This process combines a construction permit and an operating licence with conditions for plant operation. Other licensing options under Part 52 include early site permits that allow an applicant to obtain approval for a reactor site without specifying the design of the reactor(s) that could be built there, and certified standard plant designs, which can be used as pre-approved designs.

In either process, NRC approval is necessary before an NPP can be built and operated.

In recent years, many utilities that had applied for COLs withdrew their applications: nine applications to build EPRs, AP1000 reactors or Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactors (ESBWRs) were withdrawn. Fourteen COLs were issued, essentially to build AP1000 reactors, though today, only two new reactors are under construction in the

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United States (at the Vogtle plant in Georgia). Among the new reactor designs to be certified, most of which are large LWR designs, the NRC is currently reviewing the design of the SMR NuScale, which is a LWR. A NuScale power plant can contain up to 12 individual units of 60 megawatts (MW), representing a total capacity of 720 MW. Design certification for NuScale is expected in 2020.

The Department of Energy

The mission of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy is to advance nuclear power to meet the nation's energy, environmental and national security needs, specifically by working on the following objectives: enhancing the long-term viability and competitiveness of the existing US reactor fleet; developing an advanced reactor pipeline; and implementing and maintaining national strategic fuel cycle and supply chain infrastructures (DOE, 2019).

The US administration is particularly concerned about the situation of the nuclear sector, based on the following issues:

For the existing fleet, nuclear utilities – especially those operating in liberalised markets – see the competitiveness of nuclear generation challenged by low-cost natural gas prices as well as generation from renewables. This has led several operators to prematurely shut down some plants. Others are seeking support to more adequately value the contribution of nuclear power to low-carbon, resilient electricity supply.

New-build projects V.C. Summer and Vogtle (two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors planned on each site) faced cost overruns and delays, due in part to supply chain and project

management issues. Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing in 2017 caused additional complications. The company’s troubles cost then-parent firm Toshiba close to USD 5 billion in losses, while the uncertainty forced South Carolina utilities Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas to abandon construction of two reactors at the V.C. Summer plant in July 2017. The Vogtle project is currently the only new reactor construction project in the United States.

The US nuclear industry is looking to rebuild its leadership in terms of new build projects and exports. While four AP1000s were successfully built in the People’s Republic of China in Sanmen and Haiyang (benefiting from that country’s experienced workforce), no other project involving US reactor design has been launched in recent years. In the meantime, Russian Federation, Chinese, and to a lesser extent, Korean companies have successfully built reactors both domestically and in foreign markets.

To address the threat of early retirements within the current fleet, the US administration has explored several avenues to recognise the contribution that nuclear energy makes to the country’s security of supply and low-carbon power generation. In particular, the administration has been keen to value nuclear’s contribution to resilience, and potential measures are being reviewed by various regulatory organisations.

To support the new-build project at Vogtle, the US administration has provided loan guarantees as well as production tax credits similar to those granted to renewable generation projects. The administration is also actively seeking export markets for US technology, in particular in India, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

To regain US leadership, the administration has taken a number of measures to support the nuclear industry, innovation and education. Accelerating the launch of the first SMR

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