HR6613-119

What This Bill Does

The Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act of 2025 creates a new Atomic Energy Act section governing post-shutdown decommissioning activities reports and license transfers. Before submitting a covered PSDAR or license-transfer application, nuclear licensees and transferees must consult with the host state, any state within 50 miles, and relevant state or Tribal governments with land jurisdiction within 50 miles. NRC and licensees must make proposals public with redactions for trade secrets or national security, NRC must solicit written comments and hold at least two public meetings in the host state for at least 90 days, and host states may file support, conditional support, or nonsupport statements. The bill also creates NRC grant programs for community advisory boards, including subgrants for experts, travel, websites, reports, volunteer reimbursement, and other reasonable expenses, with licensee payments funding certain grants. It extends and improves economic development assistance for nuclear host communities, makes federal cost share 100 percent for small, rural, or disadvantaged nuclear host communities, creates Department of Energy noncompetitive grants for communities with stranded nuclear waste at $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel for fiscal years 2026 through 2035, and establishes Commerce-administered host community economic recovery accounts funded by transfers from nuclear decommissioning trusts or licensees.

Who Benefits and How

Host states, Tribal governments, local governments, community advisory boards, and residents near decommissioning nuclear plants benefit from earlier consultation, public access to PSDARs and license-transfer applications, public meetings, and formal opportunities to support, conditionally support, or oppose plans. Small, rural, disadvantaged, and stranded-waste communities benefit from grant funding, 100 percent federal cost share in some programs, and annual assistance tied to spent nuclear fuel. Host communities benefit from economic recovery accounts that can support local transition as nuclear plants shut down.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Nuclear licensees and transferees must conduct consultations, publish proposals, respond to public process, wait through comment periods, and transfer money for community advisory board support or host community economic recovery accounts. NRC must run consultation, public-comment, meeting, redaction, adequacy, license-transfer, grant, and rulemaking processes. DOE, Commerce, Treasury, and federal taxpayers bear grant, account, and administrative duties. Host communities receiving grants must manage subgrants, experts, reports, eligible expenses, and economic recovery projects.

Key Provisions

• Requires nuclear licensees and transferees to consult affected states, host states, state governments, and Tribal governments before covered PSDAR submissions or license transfers.
• Requires NRC public availability, at least 90 days of comment, and at least two public meetings in the host state for covered decommissioning reports or license transfers.
• Creates NRC grant and subgrant programs for community advisory boards, including expert, travel, website, report, volunteer, and administrative expenses.
• Provides stranded nuclear waste grants to affected local governments equal to $15 per kilogram of spent nuclear fuel for fiscal years 2026 through 2035.
• Creates host community economic recovery accounts funded by nuclear decommissioning trusts or licensee transfers and administered through Commerce-related grants.