House panel approves nuclear R&D funding

Washington (Platts)--16Jun2004

Nuclear energy R&D would receive $122.5-million in fiscal 2005 under a funding
bill the House Appropriations Committee approved today. The allocation
includes $40.5-million, $10-million over the budget request, for the
Generation IV program. Lawmakers earmarked $6-million of the Gen IV money for
work on the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) at the Idaho National
Laboratory, and $4-million for Gen IV R&D at the Idaho lab. DOE's Nuclear
Power 2010 program would receive $5-million, roughly $5.2-million below the
budget request. The manager's report accompanying the bill said that while
lawmakers supported the deployment of a Generation III+ reactor, they did not
think NRC should license any new nuclear units until there is a licensed
repository to take their waste. The House is expected to consider the bill
next week.