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Witnesses urge congressional support for DOE programs, HALEU and fuel recycling to speed advanced reactor deployment
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Summary
Industry witnesses and some members told the subcommittee that DOE programs and domestic HALEU fuel supplies are essential for commercializing advanced reactors; they warned proposed budget cuts to DOEOffice of Nuclear Energy and the ARDP could slow deployment.
Several witnesses told the subcommittee that federal programs and domestic fuel availability are key to scaling advanced reactors that could serve AI data centers.
Pat Schweiger, chief technology officer at Oklo, stressed DOE's role in enabling fuel availability and commercialization. He said Oklo has a site-use permit at Idaho National Laboratory and that "this program gets us to where we wanna be faster," referring to DOE-managed recycled fuel and HALEU supply. Schweiger urged Congress to "unlock an abundance of nuclear fuel" and to accelerate DOE support for domestic fuel supply chains and HALEU production.
Members and witnesses also discussed recycling spent fuel. Schweiger noted fast reactors can use spent fuel and that Idaho National Laboratory has processes to convert Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) fuel into HALEU. During later questioning, Schweiger said Oklo is working with Idaho National Laboratory to recycle EBR-II fuel and wants to move toward commercial spent-fuel recycling.
Budget concerns: members on both sides raised the administration's proposed cuts. The ranking member of the full committee said the 2026 budget would cut DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy by 21% and slash the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program by 51%. Witnesses said research and demonstration funding and loan programs remain important to lower first-of-a-kind costs and build investor confidence.
What the witnesses recommended: accelerate HALEU and domestic fuel-processing activities, maintain or restore ARDP funding and DOE loan support, and craft regulatory approaches that account for the safety records of advanced designs while reducing unnecessary barriers to commercialization.
