Here is the official verbiage for the Conference Agreement for the FY12 budget that Congress is set to approve today:
NUCLEAR ENERGYThe conference agreement provides $768,663,000 for nuclear energy activities, instead of
$733,633,000 as proposed by the House and $583,834,000 as proposed by the Senate.
The conferees direct the Department to develop a strategy for the management of spent nuclear
fuel and other nuclear waste within 6 months of publication of the final report of the Blue Ribbon
Commission on America's Nuclear Future.
Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies.-The conference agreement provides $74,880,000, to
include $14,580,000 for the National Science User Facility at Idaho National Laboratory, $24,300,000 for
the Modeling and Simulation Energy Innovation Hub, and $36,000,000 for Crosscutting Research.
Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support.-The conference agreement includes
$67,000,000 to provide licensing and first-of-a-kind engineering support for small modular reactor designs
that can be deployed expeditiously, to be administered as specified in the budget request. The Departtnent
is directed to consider applications utilizing any small modular reactor technologies. The conferees expect
the program to total $452,000,000 over five years.
Reactor Concepts Research and Development.-The conferees provide $115,544,000, to include
$28,674,000 for Small Modular Reactors Advanced Concepts and $21,870,000 for Advanced Reactor
Concepts.
The conference agreement includes $25,000,000 for Light Water Reactor Sustainability. Within
available funds, the Departtnent is directed to conduct research and development furthering knowledge on
how long the current fleet of reactors can safely operate.
The conference agreement includes $40,000,000 for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program,
$30,000,000 of which is to accelerate fuel development and qualification activities and $10,000,000 of
which is to continue ongoing research and development projects begun in prior fiscal years.
Fuel Cycle Research and Development.-The conference agreement provides $187,351,000.
The conference agreement includes $60,000,000 for Used Nuclear Fuel Disposition. Within
available funds, $10,000,000 is for development and licensing of standardized transportation, aging, and
disposition canisters and casks. Multiple geologic repositories will ultimately be required for the long-term
disposition ofthe nation's spent fuel and nuclear waste; the Department should build upon its current
knowledge base to fully understand all repository media and storage options and their comparative
advantages, and the conferees direct the Department to focus, within available funds, $3,000,000 on
development of models for potential partnerships to manage spent nuclear fuel and high level waste, and
$7,000,000 on characterization of potential geologic repository media. The Department is directed to
preserve all documentation relating to Yucca Mountain, including technical information, records, and other
documents, as well as scientific data and physical materials.
The conference agreement includes $10,000,000 to expand the Department's capabilities for
assessing issues related to the aging and safety of storing spent nuclear fuel, to include experimentation,
modeling, and simulation for dry storage casks, as well as for spent fuel pools, as necessary.
The conference agreement includes $59,000,000 for Advanced Fuels, and directs that priority for
the increase in funding be given to efforts to develop and qualifY meltdown-resistant, accident-tolerant
nuclear fuels that would enhance the safety of light water reactors.
Radiological Facilities Management.-The conference agreement provides $64,902,000 for space
and defense infrastructure, to include $15,000,000 for nuclear infrastructure at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. The conferees provide no funds for the Plutonium-238 Production Restart Project.
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