The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development met Wednesday to discuss the FY2013 Office of Nuclear Energy budget request. Among the two witnesses were Dr. Peter Lyons, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, and Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The subcommittee discussed the Department of Energy’s Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) program which would receive $65 million—a portion of the larger $770 million request for the Office of Nuclear Energy—under the FY2013 budget request.

SMRs are small-scale nuclear reactors that produce significantly less power than a traditional nuclear reactor. These SMRs are intended to produce 300 MWe or less, whereas a typical reactor would produce 1,000 MWe or more. They are intended to be factory fabricated and transported by truck or rail to their destination. However, contrary to a recent DOE statement, much is still unknown about these so-called “mini” nukes with capital costs estimated to be upwards of $2 billion for each reactor.

Following opening statements, Representative John Olver (D-MA) and Alan Nunnelee (R-MS) discussed the current status of the SMR program and if the NRC or DOE would fund any new reactors in the near future. In response, Assistant Secretary Lyons said the SMR program is in the final phases of planning and current designs are being studied for reactor sizes as low as 25 MWe and as high as 210 MWe. Lyons reported the DOE is currently accepting applications for private-public research, development and demonstration (RD&D) cost-shares and is hoping to approve up to two applications this summer.

In the Department of Energy’s materials on SMRs, the agency argues that there is a “need and a market” in the United States for small reactors. If this is true, Taxpayers for Common Sense believes the nuclear industry should be receiving only private financing, not federal tax dollars.

For more information, please contact Autumn Hanna at (202) 546-8500 or autumn[at]taxpayer.net.