Considering the polarization that has afflicted politics in recent years, it is remarkable that Congress can agree on anything. A happy exception to that rule was the recent passage of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which is designed to jump-start America’s ailing nuclear energy industry. The bill was passed overwhelmingly by the Senate and the House and is expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The bill, among other things, does the following to encourage the construction of new nuclear power plants: It cuts fees charged by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to developers proposing to build nuclear power plants. It streamlines the regulatory process to approve constructing new nuclear power plants. It encourages the NRC to work with regulators in other countries to open new markets for American-made nuclear power plants. And it creates a prize to be awarded for construction of the first next-generation nuclear power plant as well as technology for recycling nuclear waste.