WASHINGTON – The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) is hosting a webinar at 12pm ET on Wednesday, May 19th about the release of a new report “Unlocking Advanced Nuclear Innovation: The Role of Fee Reform and Public Investment.” As multiple advanced reactor vendors enter the licensing process to build first-of-a-kind demonstration projects, issues with the NRC's current user fee cost recovery model could slow innovation and raise regulatory costs. Importantly, reliance on applicant fees limits the ability of the NRC to hire and train staff ahead of expected applications, reducing regulatory efficiency.
NIA's new report explores the history of the fee system, identifies how the fee model can inhibit advanced nuclear innovation, and compares to regulatory models in other industries and countries. It includes recommendations to strenghten the NRC, reduce barriers for advanced reactor applicants, and to ensure advanced reactors can provide a timely contribution to climate mitigation.
The webinar will consist of a virtual panel discussion moderated by former NRC Commissioner Stephen Burns, Senior Fellow at Third Way, with panelists Alex Gilbert of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Caroline Cochran of Oklo, and Peter Hastings of Kairos Power. The webinar will discuss the report and its findings, as well as discuss the impacts of user fees on advanced nuclear innovation more broadly.
The webinar recording is available here: https://youtu.be/4nGVy1DRIHI
About NIA
The Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA) is a non-profit think-and-do-tank working to enable nuclear power as a global solution to mitigate climate change. Through policy analysis, research, and education, we are catalyzing the next era of nuclear energy. Our organization is funded primarily through charitable grants and philanthropic donations from climate-concerned individuals and organizations.
Learn more about NIA at https://www.nuclearinnovationalliance.org/ and on Twitter at @theNIAorg and Facebook at www.facebook.com/theNIAorg.