NEWS RELEASE

Nuclear Energy Industry Applauds Senate Passage of Comprehensive Energy Legislation

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate approved the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R. 6) by a vote of 85-12 today. Following is a statement from Skip Bowman, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer.

“We are very pleased with the Senate’s bipartisan approval of comprehensive energy legislation that will strengthen our nation’s energy security and therefore our national security.

“The nuclear energy industry looks forward to being a part of this comprehensive approach to meeting the country’s future energy needs. As part of a diverse energy supply, nuclear power will continue to foster economic prosperity and protect the environment by safely producing affordable, emission-free electricity. And, the development of new technologies and construction of advanced design reactors will allow us to expand this role in the years ahead.

“With the support of the president, Congress and the American people, we can move toward an era of energy independence. We thank the Senate for its work and hope its combined effort with the House will produce a swift and successful result.”

Nuclear energy provisions in H.R. 6 include:

• Limited incentives to stimulate investment in the first new nuclear power plants that the industry expects to be ordered later this decade.
• Renewal of the Price-Anderson Act, the framework for industry self-funded liability insurance, for 20 years.
• Authorization of funding for research and development aimed at developing advanced nuclear power plants, more proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel and improved methods for managing used nuclear fuel.
• Direction to the Department of Energy to research cost-effective technologies for increasing the safety and security of nuclear facilities.
• Authorization of funding for the Department of Energy to establish an advanced reactor for hydrogen production at the Idaho National Laboratory.

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry’s policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear energy are available on NEI’s Internet site at http://www.nei.org.