The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources will host a hearing on fusion energy technology development and commercialization efforts on Thursday, September 19, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.
To lead on fusion energy, the US needs to make strategic, investments. The FIA recommends a one-time supplemental appropriation of $3 billion.
On June 18, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate passed the ADVANCE Act, including legislation that will codify fusion energy regulations separate from nuclear fission. The Bill is now headed to the President’s desk for signature; once signed into law, the United States will be the second country to enact specific fusion regulations into law – following the United Kingdom’s enactment of fusion regulatory legislation in October 2023.
On June 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Alongside the bill, the House Committee on Armed Services released a Report on H.R. 8070 with additional views and guidance – including guidance on fusion energy sources, noting that “the committee believes that compact fusion power technologies, if matured to an appropriate level, could provide significant advantages to the Department of Defense.”
On April 18, Senators Padilla, Cornyn, Booker, Young, and Murray introduced a bipartisan bill to accelerate fusion energy development. The legislation would codify the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s bipartisan decision last April to regulate fusion energy separate from nuclear fission. This Senate bill follows the passage of companion bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives….
U.S. senators from both parties introduced legislation to accelerate development of power plants run by fusion reactions, an emerging technology that one day could help fight climate change.
On April 18, the FIA sent a letter to Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Capito of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to support the renomination of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Christopher Hanson.
The U.S. government will increase funding for fusion energy research to $790 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.
The FIA endorsed passage on February 28, 2024 of H.R.6544, the bipartisan Atomic Energy Advancement Act with the Trahan-Obernolte Fusion Energy Act included.
To say 2023 was a big year in the world of fusion research would be an understatement.