[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 6 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E28-E29]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HOW ILLINOIS CAN USE SUBCRITICAL NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY TO DEAL WITH 
                           NUCLEAR SPENT FUEL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BILL FOSTER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 11, 2024

  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, on December 8th, Governor Pritzker signed 
into law a measure that will allow new small modular reactor (SMR) 
technology to proceed in Illinois. A moratorium on new construction has 
been in place since 1987. Illinois and 15 other states imposed bans 
primarily because, even with Congressional authorization and funding, 
the proposed permanent storage repository at Yucca Flats Nevada to this 
day has not received a single pound of spent nuclear fuel (SNP).
  The estimated 87,000 metric tons of commercial SNF has been stored 
temporarily in holding ponds and dry casks primarily at the sites of 
U.S. nuclear power plants, both currently operating and shut down. The 
storage and security costs have been imposed on rate payers.
  The law, which takes effect next June 1st, authorizes a state 
regulatory structure for SMRs and limits them to 300 MWe, or from a 
fourth to a third the power of the state's six operating reactors.
  I have recently been paying special attention to subcritical advanced 
nuclear technology, which can consume the remaining energy in the SNP. 
The approach is based on pioneering molten salt research done at Oak 
Ridge National Lab (ORNL) in the 1960s. It takes advantage of the large 
number of neutrons that can be produced by superconducting linear 
accelerators like the one brought online at the ORNL Spallation Neutron 
Source in the years since 2010.
  Mr. Speaker, Illinois has been first in the nuclear age, dating from 
the first nuclear reactor in the basement of Professor Fermi's lab at 
the University of Chicago in the fall of 1942. The first commercial 
nuclear power plant was built in 1957. Today, more than half of 
Illinois' power generated comes from nuclear energy. That is the most 
of any state. We have more SNP stored temporarily here than any state, 
more than 11,000 metric tons. We have even proposed constructing 
permanent storage sites, but without success.
  Again, we can lead the nation and the world into the next generation 
of clean, safe, affordable power.
  The pending FY 2024 Energy & Water Appropriations legislation 
contains a line item for more than $1 billion for advanced modular 
power research and development. I urge that a significant amount be 
devoted to accelerator driven subcritical projects.
  Therefore, I include in the Record the following article on the new 
legislation from the Capital News Illinois dated December 8, 2023:

 Pritzker Signs Measure Allowing New Small-Scale Nuclear Technology in 
                                Illinois

                   (By Jerry Nowicki & Andrew Adams)

       Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that 
     will allow for the limited development of new nuclear power 
     generation technology in the state.
       The measure, House Bill 2473, does not allow new large-
     scale power generation facilities like the six plants that 
     are already operational in the state, but rather allows for 
     new smaller-scale emergent technology.
       Since 1987, the state has had a moratorium on any new 
     nuclear power construction until the federal government 
     designates a long-term disposal site for nuclear waste--
     something that has never occurred. The new law will take 
     effect on June 1, 2024, but because permitting nuclear energy 
     takes many years at the federal level, the earliest a nuclear 
     project could be brought online in Illinois would be in the 
     2030s.
       HB 2473 creates a regulatory structure for the construction 
     of small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs. The bill limits 
     the nameplate capacity of such reactors to 300 megawatts, 
     about one-third the size of the smallest of the six existing 
     nuclear power plants in Illinois. It also requires the state 
     to perform a study that will inform rules for regulating 
     SMRs, which must be adopted by the Illinois Emergency 
     Management Agency by January 2026.
       The bill's proponents say it's a necessary step as Illinois 
     tries to end its reliance on carbon-emitting power sources 
     over the next two decades. But its opponents say it distracts 
     from Illinois' efforts to deploy 100 percent renewable energy 
     production and is an endorsement of unproven technology.
       The bill passed with bipartisan support in the Senate, 44-
     7, and the House, 98-8, on the final day of the fall veto 
     session last month. The opposition came exclusively from 
     Democrats. Pritzker vetoed an earlier version of the measure 
     but helped usher the compromise through the legislature.
       The bill's sponsors said after its passage that it has the 
     potential to bolster Illinois' electric grid reliability as 
     the state's energy mix becomes increasingly reliant on 
     intermittent technologies such as wind and solar.
       Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, sponsored the bill in the Senate, 
     while Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, was its House sponsor. 
     Rezin noted last month that she is particularly interested in 
     the potential for SMRs to be developed at the sites of former 
     coal plants, avoiding the need to build new transmission 
     lines, although that process could take many years.
       David Kraft, an outspoken critic of nuclear energy and head 
     of the Chicago-based advocacy group Nuclear Energy 
     Information Service, testified against the measure at several 
     points during the legislative process.
       Kraft said he was concerned about the lack of existing SMR 
     installations and the

[[Page E29]]

     unproven nature of the technology. While some nuclear 
     reactors of this scale exist in other countries, no 
     commercial SMRs have ever been built in the United States.
       Counting Illinois, 11 states currently have some level of 
     nuclear construction bans on the books. Since 2016, five 
     other states have either repealed or weakened their bans. 
     Several of the states that have lifted their bans have done 
     so to pave the way for SMR technology.
       But the biggest U.S. player in that industry has seen 
     several recent setbacks.
       In November, NuScale Power--the only company with a 
     federally approved SMR design--announced that it was 
     canceling its highly watched ``Carbon Free Power Project'' in 
     Utah, which would have been the first commercial project with 
     a NuScale reactor. Still, its leaders say the company will 
     continue with its other projects, which are at varying steps 
     of regulation and planning.
       Rezin told Capitol News Illinois last month she hopes 
     Illinois' and other states' moves to reverse their 
     construction bans will encourage nuclear energy development 
     in the U.S.
       Pritzker did not issue a statement but signed the bill 
     along with 15 others that were sent to his desk following 
     November's fall veto session. That included a measure a that 
     would require the state to purchase exclusively ``zero-
     emission vehicles,'' such as electric vehicles, after Jan. 1, 
     2030.
       Senate Bill 1769 excludes law enforcement vehicles and 
     vehicles purchased by the Illinois Department of 
     Transportation as part of a program that provides buses to 
     some mass transit systems.

                          ____________________