In 1980, the United States produced and processed 90 percent of the uranium used by 251 nuclear power plants that generated 11 percent of the country’s electricity.
In 2021, only 5 percent of the uranium used by the 55 nuclear power plants operating the country—which now generates nearly 20 percent of the nation’s electricity—was produced domestically.
The House on Feb. 28 adopted in a 365-36 vote a bill designed to trim regulations, streamline permitting timelines and costs, and promote evolving technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMR), to return the nation to global prominence in developing and producing carbon-free nuclear power.
The bill could usher in “a nuclear renaissance” in powering the United States, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said of the regulatory clutter that needs to be cleared away to ensure “government agencies, specifically the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is [sic] prepared as they move into the 21st century to truly [support] the advancement of nuclear energy in this country.”…
