House passes nuclear-energy reforms with overwhelming majority
The House on Wednesday evening passed a bipartisan, bicameral package of nuclear-energy reforms, leaving the bill only a Senate concurrence away from the President’s desk.
The Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, which includes the compromise version of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, passed 393-13 on Wednesday evening.
Twenty-three lawmakers sat out the vote, 10 Republicans and 13 Democrats and one voted present, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Even including those who voted against the bill or did not support it, the measure passed with the support of 90% of the House of Representatives. All but one of the no votes were Republicans.
The White House had not issued a statement of administration policy about the bill as of Tuesday afternoon. Such statements can take the form of outright veto threats, suggestions to alter a bill, or an unqualified endorsement of the bill.
The ADVANCE Act originated in the Senate and the previous version of the proposal was included with the 2024 defense authorization bill by a unanimous vote. House lawmakers stripped that version of the proposal out of the defense bill, and countered with their own package of nuclear reforms that passed easily in February.
However, with the presidential election and other legislative business threatening to sap Congress’ attention, proponents of nuclear energy on Capitol Hill looked for a vehicle to speed the nuclear reforms through Congress. They found it in the fire bill, which the Senate has already approved.
Among other things, the compromise nuclear policy proposals in the fire bill would: