James Conca, Geochemist: In January, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Advanced Nuclear Technology Act of 2017, HR 590, that is intended “to foster civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies and enhance the licensing and commercial deployment of such technologies. At the same time, the latest version of the Interim Consolidated Storage Act was introduced in the House. This bill would create one or more interim storage facilities to hold spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from all the nation’s nuclear power plants and would allow the Energy Department to contract for temporary used nuclear fuel storage facilities. These bills address two of the most important recommendations made in 2011 by then President Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (the BRC),”
