Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4084, the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act.

Currently in the United States, nuclear power produces about 20 percent of our Nation's electrical supply, and that makes nuclear power the single largest carbon-free power source in the country.

However, our current nuclear fleet is growing older. Many of the plants across our country are many decades old and rely upon nuclear technology that is even older.

There have been substantial efforts in the past decade to move towards constructing new nuclear generating units with more modern designs. However, these efforts have had mixed results.

There have been construction difficulties, regulatory hurdles, and financing issues, all of which have conspired to delay the construction of new nuclear plants in America.

Some of these hurdles, though, are unlikely to go away with our current technologies. The Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima nuclear accidents have repeatedly highlighted the necessity of ensuring our nuclear fleet runs as safely as possible. This has led to much of the cost and difficulty of building the new plants.

I think the answer to these problems can be found in innovative new nuclear technologies. The Department of Energy and many different companies in the private sector are working on new forms of nuclear energy generation that hold the promise of much more effective and much safer nuclear generation stations.

Some of these technologies also address the extremely important issue of the radioactive waste streams that plague our current generation of nuclear plants.

H.R. 4084 takes several positive steps to help spur this innovation and deliver these very promising nuclear technologies to market.

I also want to highlight one additional reason to support H.R. 4084. As the world makes commitments to move toward a lower carbon future, as evidenced by the Paris climate agreement, it presents an opportunity to American Industry to supply low-carbon power platforms like nuclear power.

This bill will keep our country on the forefront of nuclear power technology, and it is my hope it will empower American Industry to be the suppliers of the next generation of nuclear plants throughout the entire world.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman Weber for sponsoring this legislation, and thank Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson for bringing this bill to the floor in such a bipartisan manner.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve balance of my time.
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Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, having no further requests for time, I yield back the balance of my time.

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