Nuclear energy policy of the United States

For other uses, see Nuclear policy of the United States.
George W. Bush signing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was designed to promote US nuclear reactor construction, through incentives and subsidies, including cost-overrun support up to a total of $2 billion for six new nuclear plants.[1]

The nuclear energy policy of the United States began in 1954 and continued with the ongoing building of nuclear power plants, the enactment of numerous pieces of legislation such as the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and the implementation of countless policies which have guided the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy in the regulation and growth of nuclear energy companies. This includes, but is not limited to, regulations of nuclear facilities, waste storage, decommissioning of weapons-grade materials, uranium mining, and funding for nuclear companies, along with an increase in power plant building. Both legislation and bureaucratic regulations of nuclear energy in the United States have been shaped by scientific research, private industries' wishes, and public opinion, which has shifted over time and as a result of different nuclear disasters.

In the United States, there have been numerous legislative actions and policies implemented on a federal and state level to both regulate atomic energy and promote its expansion. The growth of nuclear power in the US ended in the 1980s, however, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed in 2005 which aimed to jump-start the nuclear industry through financial loan-guarantees for expansion and re-outfitting of nuclear plants. The success of this legislation is still undetermined since all 17 companies that applied for funding are still in the planning phases on their 26 proposed building applications. Some of the proposed sites have even scrapped their building plans, and many think the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster will further dampen the success of the expansion of nuclear energy in the United States.

In 2008, the Energy Information Administration projected almost 17 gigawatts of new nuclear power reactors by 2030, but in its 2011 projections, it "scaled back the 2030 projection to just five".[2] Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, public support for building nuclear power plants in the U.S. dropped to 43%, slightly lower than it was immediately after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, according to a CBS News poll.[3] A survey conducted in April 2011 found that 64 percent of Americans opposed the construction of new nuclear reactors.[4] A survey sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute, conducted in September 2011, found that "62 percent of respondents said they favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States, with 35 percent opposed".[5]

In 2022, nuclear energy accounted for 18% of all energy generation in the United States, this was an essential contribution to USA's surpassing a record of 40% energy generation coming from carbon-free sources.[6] While nuclear energy remains a polarizing issue amongst Americans, two-thirds of US states and the US Department of Energy plan to incorporate nuclear energy in their green energy goals.[7]

  1. ^ John Quiggin (8 November 2013). "Reviving nuclear power debates is a distraction. We need to use less energy". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference The implications of Fukushima: The US perspective was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cooper2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ M. V. Ramana (July 2011). "Nuclear power and the public". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 67 (4): 44. Bibcode:2011BuAtS..67d..43R. doi:10.1177/0096340211413358. S2CID 144321178.
  5. ^ "Americans' Support for Nuclear Energy Holds at Majority Level 6 Months After Japan Accident". PR Newswire. 3 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Clean energy record: More than 40% of US electricity now comes from carbon-free sources". USA Today. 3 March 2023.
  7. ^ "The U.S. is divided over whether nuclear power is part of the green energy future". NPR. 18 January 2022.