EPSA Comments to DOE on Proposed Guidance Amendment for the Civil Nuclear Credit Program

In response to an invitation for comments from DOE on whether it should revise the eligibility criteria set out in the April 2022 Guidance for the Civil Nuclear Credit (“CNC”) program, EPSA filed comments to oppose the proposed Guidance Amendment. The amendment would replace the current objective measurement of a nuclear reactor’s participation in a competitive market – as directed by Congress – with a more subjective measurement to accommodate one particular Nuclear Reactor (Diablo Canyon Power Plant), as requested last month by the California governor. In its comments EPSA explains, “To contort the program to guarantee certification of a reactor that cannot pass what is in fact a minimal test for competitive status – a 50% threshold of revenue recovery – inappropriately and improperly tips the scales and harms all other applicants.”