Description
Amendment 001 has replaced the Guidance with a version 2. The hange was removal of a "Draft" watermark. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office is publishing this Guidance for the Civil Nuclear Credit Program (CNC Program), enacted by Section 40323 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58, signed November 15, 2021, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The BIL is a once‐in‐a‐generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy through enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the world, creating good jobs, and ensuring stronger access to economic and other benefits for disadvantaged communities. The BIL appropriates more than $62 billion to DOE1 to deliver a more equitable clean energy future for the American people. As part of this effort, the BIL authorizes and appropriates $6 billion for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2026 to establish the CNC Program to prevent closures of nuclear power plants by providing financial support for existing Nuclear Reactors projected to cease operations due to economic factors.2 As implemented through this Guidance, the CNC Program will make meaningful progress towards a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035, help “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050”3 to the benefit of all Americans. Nuclear power currently provides 50 percent of the nation’s clean electricity, and the current fleet of reactors is a vital resource to achieve a 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050.4 Shifting energy markets and other economic factors have already resulted in the closure of 13 commercial reactors across the United States since 2013.5 These closures have led to an increase in carbon emissions, poorer air quality, and the loss of thousands of high-paying jobs.6 The CNC Program is a critical element of meeting clean energy goals by helping to preserve the existing nuclear fleet and the clean energy it provides. This Guidance describes the timelines, deliverables, and other requirements for Owners or Operators of Nuclear Reactors that due to economic factors (i) are projected to cease operations, or (ii) ceased operations to submit Certification Applications to be eligible to become Certified Nuclear Reactors, and instructions on formulating and submitting sealed Bids to be eligible to be allocated Credits. This Guidance will clarify the Certification criteria, application content requirements, evaluation process and methodologies, eligibility periods, and anticipated timeline of the CNC Program. This Guidance is applicable to the second in a series of annual award cycles that DOE will conduct to implement the CNC Program (Award Period 2). The first Award Period was limited to Nuclear Reactors projected to cease operations imminently and with a high degree of certainty. Accordingly, that first Award Period was limited to Nuclear Reactors that had already publicly announced their intention to cease operations. Award Period 2 will not be limited to Nuclear Reactors that have publicly announced their intentions to cease operations.