Barrasso says new laws are laying the groundwork for Wyoming’s new sodium nuclear reactor

A proposed draft of the “Sodium” nuclear power plant under construction in Wyoming was shared in a press release from PacifiCorps on Wednesday. (PacifiCorps)

CASPER, Wyoming – Wyoming’s US Senator John Barrasso helped pass the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act on Friday, a piece of legislation he believes would enable advanced nuclear technologies such as the sodium reactor to be deployed in Wyoming.

“The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act will strengthen both America’s energy and national security,” Barrasso said in a press release his office shared on Friday. “Given the Russian and Chinese aggression, it is critical that we remain the world’s leading developer of nuclear technology. This bipartisan law does it. Nuclear power is reliable and clean. Our bipartisan bill supports the continued operation of the existing American reactors and creates the conditions for the use of advanced nuclear technologies such as the sodium reactor, which is coming to Wyoming. “

Governor Mark Gordon announced in June this year that Wyoming had been selected to build a new “advanced” nuclear reactor and said it would be “groundbreaking and monumental” for Wyoming.

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The system would be built at one of four locations in Wyoming. It was co-developed by TerraPower, which was founded by Bill Gates and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. The US Department of Energy has awarded TerraPower an initial $ 80 million funding to demonstrate sodium technology, a technology that TerraPower says can provide “improved reactor economy, higher fuel efficiency, improved safety and reduced waste.”

The sodium reactor would be a sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) using a different technology than the existing reactors in the United States which are either pressurized water reactors and the remaining or boiling water reactors. Whether sodium technology would actually improve existing reactors is being discussed, with the Union of Concerned Scientists examining the topic in their report “Advanced ‘Is’t Always Better”.

The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act, supported by Barrasso, is supported by both parties. Other senators who introduced the law last week include:

  • US Senator Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.)
  • US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.)
  • US Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.)
  • U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Friday’s press release stated that the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA) would do the following:

  • Restoring US international competitiveness and global leadership
  • Authorize the Nuclear Supervision Commission to “lead a consensus-building process in international forums to set rules for advanced nuclear reactor designs”
  • Authorization of the Nuclear Supervision Commission “to refuse the import of Russian nuclear fuel for reasons of national security”
  • create an award “to incentivize the successful licensing process of next-generation nuclear technologies and fuels”
  • Demand that the Nuclear Oversight Commission “identify and remove regulatory barriers to enable advanced nuclear technologies to reduce industrial emissions”
  • Approval of a targeted loan program for the “maintenance of nuclear power plants that are at risk of premature decommissioning”
  • Restructuring laws that restrict investments in nuclear power
  • “Revitalizing” the country’s nuclear supply chain infrastructure
  • Identification of “modern manufacturing techniques for building nuclear reactors better, faster, cheaper and more intelligent”

“It is important that we continue to position the United States as the world’s leading source of energy, and that requires that we utilize all sources of America’s energy potential to the full,” Capito said in the press release. “Combined with our country’s coal and natural gas resources, nuclear power can provide the critical clean and reliable electricity needed to power our homes and businesses.”

Whitehouse said the legislation would help keep existing nuclear power plants online “to prevent their replacement with dirtier fossil fuels”.

“We must also invest in the development of a new generation of nuclear energy technologies that can productively reuse spent nuclear fuel,” added the Senator.

Booker highlights the role of nuclear energy in reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change.

“The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act will facilitate the development of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors, help keep our existing reactor fleet safely operational, and provide vital means to clean up the legacy of abandoned mines on tribal land,” added Booker.

Further information on the law can be found on the Internet:

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