Description:
H.R. 9710 would authorize the appropriation of $1.1 billion for the Department of Energy to develop a demonstration program for small modular reactors and make competitive awards for up to two demonstration projects. The demonstrations could use reactors on federal property, including that of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Because TVA sells electricity at prices sufficient to recover its costs, CBO estimates that any changes in that agency’s net outlays as a result of the bill would be negligible. CBO also expects that enacting the bill would slightly increase the probability that a small nuclear reactor would become operational before 2034. Adding more small reactors would increase the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s legal liability under the Price-Anderson Act; spending related to such liability (if any) would be classified as direct spending. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 9710 would increase direct spending by less than $500,000 over the 2025-2034 period. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not affect revenues. CBO has not estimated how or when amounts authorized to be appropriated under the bill would be spent; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
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