West Virginia vs. EPA Part II: U.S. Supreme Court Applies the Major Questions Doctrine to limit EPA Regulatory Authority
West Virginia vs. EPA: An Environmental Regulations Case with Broad Implications for Agency Power
Jones Day Talks: Developments in Germany's Wind Power Regulations
On August 12, 2024, the Argentine federal government published Executive Decree 718/2024, establishing the structure for the private sector’s continued operation of hydroelectric plants in the Comahue area (Neuquén and Rio...more
On July 22, 2024, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) released a long-awaited energy permitting reform bill, which aims to accelerate the permitting process for critical energy, mineral, and related...more
On September 11, 2023, the Alberta Utilities Commission (“AUC”) formally launched an inquiry into the ongoing economic, orderly, and efficient development of electricity generation in the province (“Inquiry”)....more
Today, April 3, the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee (“EPW”) introduced new legislation that continues to demonstrate bipartisan support for advanced nuclear reactor developments, including expanding levels of...more
On October 3, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled Virginia’s 2022 Energy Plan, calling for deployment of the state’s first small “modular nuclear reactor” in the region and going all-in on nuclear....more
NRC Commissioners Christopher Hanson, David Wright, and Jeff Baran recently voted 2-1 (Commissioner Baran dissenting) to implement SECY-21-0029, “Rulemaking Plan on Revision of Inservice Testing and Inservice Inspection...more
The Kazakhstan renewables market has been gaining momentum during the last few years. Reasons for such development include (1) government support (including periodic amendments to industry laws and regulations to address...more
On April 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announced it is soliciting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from industry stakeholders and technical experts on innovative uses of nuclear...more
President Biden ran on an energy and environmental platform calling for a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In pursuit of this clean energy plan, he also called for a modernized energy...more
The NRC held a public meeting on January 26 to discuss potential options for licensing fusion energy systems. This meeting is part of the NRC’s work to develop regulations to license and regulate advanced nuclear reactors as...more
Last week, Congress passed a $900B omnibus spending bill, which contains, most importantly, relief measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also various authorizations and appropriations for FY2021, including $1.5...more
Is it science fiction to consider living on the moon or traveling to Mars in only a few months? Maybe not. The US government is promoting technologies to place nuclear reactors in space to power human existence on the moon...more
The NRC staff is moving forward with development of the 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking, which will establish a new framework for licensing and regulating advanced nuclear reactors (and potentially also extending to fusion...more
On October 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded X-energy and TerraPower $80M each for their respective initiatives to build advanced nuclear reactors. The proposals were evaluated under the Advanced...more
The suspense is over. The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced Tuesday that it had awarded $80 million each to TerraPower and X-energy under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) for them to build two advanced...more
The commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved almost all of the staff’s proposed approach for adding a new part to its regulations, 10 CFR Part 53, to govern licensing of advanced nuclear reactors. ...more
The NRC staff published Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2020-02 on August 31 requesting potential advanced reactor applicants to provide information on their plans for engaging with the agency during fiscal years (FYs) 2023...more
On July 16, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a final rule that largely adopts FERC’s proposed revisions to its regulations under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”)....more
Advanced nuclear reactors promising smaller, simpler, and safer nuclear energy are moving closer and closer to commercial reality. As we recently blogged, Oklo Inc., a California-based company, recently submitted the...more
The United States has been struggling to compete with its peers in securing nuclear power plant construction projects around the world. One of the factors impacting U.S. competitiveness is that many foreign countries such as...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced new key dates for companies considering applying for funding for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration (ARD) program. Morgan Lewis previously reported on the ARD Funding...more
On April 1, 2020, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the Legislature agreed to adopt the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (the “Act”) to expedite and streamline the regulatory review process for siting...more
The Energy Impact Center (EIC), which brought us the well-known Titans of Nuclear podcast series, has recently launched “OPEN100,” which provides important open-source information intended to streamline the power plant design...more
Since 2016, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been developing a strategy to review future non-light water reactor (non-LWR) technologies. That year, the NRC published the NRC Vision and Strategy:...more
The year 2019 comes to an end with some positive news on the advanced reactor licensing front, including the upcoming issuance of a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Early Site Permit, grant of a US Department of Energy...more