Nuclear REFUEL Act of 2025 (S. 2082)

Nuclear Recycling Efficient Fuels Utilizing Expedited Licensing Act of 2025 or the Nuclear REFUEL Act of 2025

This bill directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to license future recycling facilities that reprocess certain spent nuclear fuel (i.e., radioactive waste) under regulations for special nuclear material rather than regulations for production and utilization facilities. The bill applies to domestic facilities that reprocess spent nuclear fuel in a manner that does not separate plutonium from other transuranic elements (i.e., certain radioactive elements). Generally, such recycling facilities reprocess spent nuclear fuel into materials that may be reused as nuclear fuel for electricity.

While there are no commercial reprocessing facilities currently operating in the United States, the bill specifies which regulatory framework the NRC must use when issuing licenses to future facilities by excluding such facilities from the statutory definition of production facility. The licensing process under regulations for special nuclear material has fewer steps than the licensing process under regulations for production and utilization facilities.