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Summary:
Nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress include questions about radioactive waste management, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, terrorism, the Price-Anderson Act radiation liability system, nuclear weapons proliferation, and plutonium disposition. Federal funding for nuclear energy research and development was substantially reduced by the Clinton Administration, and some advanced reactor programs were eliminated. The Bush Administration has stressed the importance of nuclear power in the nation's energy policy, although it has requested relatively little additional R&D funding. The Bush Administration's FY2003 budget request includes $38.5 million for a Department of Energy (DOE) effort to encourage deployment of new commercial nuclear power plants by 2010. That funding proposal has been largely approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Several bills have been introduced in the 107 Congress to encourage the growth of nuclear power. A number of nuclear provisions are included in comprehensive energy legislation (H.R. 4) passed by the House August 2, 2001, and by the Senate April 25, 2002. The bill is currently in conference.
