# Are Congress's Two New Nuclear Bills Enough to Fix U.S. Fuel Security and Waste Policy?

Two separate Senate bills introduced in early August 2026 target the twin pressure points squeezing U.S. nuclear energy policy: the absence of adequate domestic [uranium enrichment](https://smrintel.com/glossary/enrichment) capacity and the decades-long stalemate over nuclear waste disposal. The MORE American Fuel Act would allow construction of enrichment facilities to begin before an NRC operating license is issued — a structural change in the licensing sequence that supporters argue is essential ahead of the full U.S. ban on Russian [low-enriched uranium](https://smrintel.com/glossary/leu) taking effect in 2028. Separately, the Jobs, Not Waste Act, sponsored by Nevada's two Democratic senators, would formally terminate Yucca Mountain's legal designation as the national nuclear waste repository and direct the Office of Management and Budget to study alternative uses for the site. Together, the bills represent the most direct legislative attempt yet to resolve two of nuclear energy's most intractable domestic policy problems. Neither bill is assured of passage, and one — the Yucca Mountain measure — directly conflicts with the interests of utilities and operators sitting on accumulating inventories of spent fuel with nowhere to send it.

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## The MORE American Fuel Act: Pre-License Construction and Streamlined Hearings

The Modernizing Outdated Regulations to Expand American Fuel Act — the MORE American Fuel Act — was introduced on the Thursday before this article's publication date, according to the American Nuclear Society. Its Senate cosponsors are Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.), a genuinely bipartisan pairing that reflects how fuel supply security has cut across traditional party lines since Russia's invasion of Ukraine reshaped global enrichment markets.

The bill's central mechanism is pre-license construction authority: applicants would be permitted to begin building uranium enrichment facilities before the NRC issues an operating license, provided they give advance written notice to state, local, and tribal governments. Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act would still be required before any uranium is enriched or stored on-site, and the NRC would retain full authority to review facilities. What changes is the sequencing — construction would no longer have to wait for a completed licensing proceeding.

The bill would also eliminate mandatory public hearings that cosponsors characterize as unnecessary, while preserving the public's right to request hearings. That's a meaningful distinction: the current framework requires hearings even when no party requests one, adding time and cost to proceedings without a corresponding safety rationale.

Patrick White, advanced nuclear technology and regulation expert at the Clean Air Task Force, offered a pointed framing in the bill's news release: "By creating pathways for accelerated construction and eliminating requirements for outdated and cumbersome regulatory processes, this bill supports new enrichment capacity that is vital to deploying new nuclear reactors."

### Why 2028 Is the Clock Everyone Is Watching

The ANS source material identifies the Russian [low-enriched uranium](https://smrintel.com/glossary/leu) import ban's full implementation in 2028 as the explicit policy driver. U.S. utilities currently depend heavily on enrichment services from [Urenco](https://smrintel.com/companies/urenco) and [Orano](https://smrintel.com/companies/orano), alongside residual Russian supply that is now being wound down. [Centrus Energy Corp](https://smrintel.com/companies/centrus-energy) is the only U.S.-based entity currently licensed to produce [high-assay low-enriched uranium](https://smrintel.com/glossary/haleu), and its capacity remains limited.

Sen. Lummis's statement flagged Wyoming explicitly — her state contains significant uranium mining resources, and a functioning domestic enrichment pipeline is a prerequisite for those assets to translate into actual fuel production. Sen. Kelly's framing around reliability and energy independence echoes the national security arguments that have driven bipartisan nuclear support more broadly.

**The skeptical read:** Pre-license construction authority reduces regulatory risk for capital deployment, but it doesn't create enrichment capacity on its own. A developer still has to raise substantial capital to build a facility, operate within a technology area that involves significant centrifuge or laser enrichment IP, and then seek an operating license before the facility can actually produce fuel. The bill accelerates the timeline but doesn't eliminate the underlying industrial and financial barriers. It is also worth noting that this legislation has precedent in the [construction permit](https://smrintel.com/glossary/construction-permit) framework that governs reactor construction — the logic of separating site preparation from full operating approval is well-established in nuclear licensing practice.

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## The Jobs, Not Waste Act: Formally Closing Yucca Mountain

Introduced the Tuesday before MORE American Fuel, the Jobs, Not Waste Act was sponsored by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D., Nev.). The bill would require the Department of Energy to withdraw and terminate the licensing proceeding at the NRC for the Yucca Mountain repository, require reclamation and mitigation of adverse environmental impacts at the site, and direct the Office of Management and Budget to study Yucca Mountain's viability for other uses.

Similar legislation was introduced by the same senators in 2024, per the ANS source, meaning this is not a first attempt. What has changed is the political context: Cortez Masto's statement acknowledges "the Trump administration's recent move to leave the unworkable Yucca Mountain proposal behind" — a signal that executive branch posture has shifted in a direction the Nevada senators want to codify in statute so it cannot be reversed by a future administration.

Rosen was explicit about the consent-based framework her caucus prefers: "any proposal to establish a nuclear waste repository needs to be centered on the consent of the surrounding community."

### The Spent Fuel Problem This Bill Does Not Solve

Terminating Yucca Mountain's legal status without a simultaneous pathway to an alternative repository or consolidated interim storage solution leaves U.S. nuclear operators — including [Constellation Energy](https://smrintel.com/companies/constellation-energy), [Vistra Corp](https://smrintel.com/companies/vistra), and others — in a holding pattern with growing inventories of spent fuel in [dry cask storage](https://smrintel.com/glossary/dry-cask-storage) at reactor sites. The OMB study on alternative uses is a placeholder, not a solution. The advanced reactor fleet now coming online — including [TerraPower](https://smrintel.com/companies/terrapower)'s Natrium project in Wyoming and [Kairos Power](https://smrintel.com/companies/kairos-power)'s HERMES demonstration in Tennessee — will eventually add to the back-end burden. Removing Yucca Mountain from the table without a replacement framework deepens an already critical gap.

The bill's advocates would argue that Yucca Mountain's political unworkability means the site was never a real solution anyway, and that formally closing the proceeding frees up DOE resources and attention for a consent-based siting process. That argument has merit — money spent on a litigation-entangled proceeding is money not spent on interim storage or alternative site evaluation.

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## Industry Trajectory: What These Bills Signal

The simultaneous introduction of these two measures reflects a Congress that is finally treating nuclear fuel security and nuclear waste disposal as first-tier energy policy problems rather than chronic deferral items. The bipartisan support for MORE American Fuel in particular — a Democratic senator from Arizona and a Republican senator from Wyoming — suggests the enrichment issue has transcended its previous status as a niche concern of the uranium mining lobby.

For the advanced reactor sector, the implications are substantial. Every SMR and advanced reactor design currently in development depends on a functioning domestic enrichment supply chain. Without it, the entire fleet of [first-of-a-kind](https://smrintel.com/glossary/foak) projects faces fuel supply risk at exactly the moment their [construction permits](https://smrintel.com/glossary/construction-permit) and operating licenses are being sought. Streamlining enrichment facility licensing is a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for that fleet to operate on a commercially viable basis.

Whether either bill passes in its current form is uncertain. The waste bill will face opposition from any legislator whose state or constituency wants to see a permanent repository solution — and that includes representatives from states where spent fuel is accumulating at decommissioned plant sites with no long-term storage answer. The enrichment bill faces the perennial obstacle of regulatory reform: the NRC's dual mandate of safety and efficiency means any perception that mandatory oversight is being curtailed will generate pushback from watchdog organizations and some within the agency itself.

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## Key Takeaways

- The MORE American Fuel Act would allow construction of uranium enrichment facilities to begin before the NRC issues an operating license, with NEPA reviews still required before enrichment or storage begins.
- The bill preserves NRC authority and public hearing rights, but eliminates mandatory hearings sponsors argue are procedurally redundant.
- The 2028 full implementation of the Russian LEU import ban is the explicit deadline driving urgency on the enrichment legislation.
- Cosponsors are Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) — bipartisan support that reflects national energy security framing.
- The Jobs, Not Waste Act would direct the DOE to withdraw and terminate the Yucca Mountain NRC licensing proceeding and require an OMB study on alternative uses for the site.
- Nevada Sens. Rosen and Cortez Masto introduced similar legislation in 2024; the 2026 version comes with additional political tailwind from a shifted executive branch position.
- Neither bill addresses the underlying spent fuel accumulation problem or provides a funded alternative to Yucca Mountain.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**What does the MORE American Fuel Act actually change about NRC licensing for enrichment facilities?**
It would allow construction of uranium enrichment facilities to begin before the NRC issues an operating license — a sequential change that parallels the construction permit model used for reactors. Environmental reviews under NEPA would still be required before uranium is enriched or stored on-site, and the NRC retains full review authority. Mandatory public hearings would be eliminated, but the public could still request hearings on applications.

**Why is 2028 significant for U.S. uranium enrichment policy?**
The full U.S. ban on Russian low-enriched uranium takes effect in 2028. The U.S. currently relies substantially on foreign enrichment services. Without additional domestic capacity, utilities face a tightening supply situation precisely when advanced reactor deployments are expected to increase demand for enriched fuel, including HALEU.

**What would the Jobs, Not Waste Act do to Yucca Mountain?**
It would require the Department of Energy to withdraw and terminate the NRC licensing proceeding for the Yucca Mountain repository, require environmental reclamation at the site, and direct the Office of Management and Budget to study the site's viability for other uses. It does not establish an alternative repository or interim storage solution.

**Has the Yucca Mountain termination bill been tried before?**
Yes. Sen. Rosen and Sen. Cortez Masto introduced similar legislation in 2024, according to the ANS source. The 2026 version comes in a different political context, with the senators citing a recent Trump administration move away from Yucca Mountain as additional rationale for codifying the closure in statute.

**How do these bills affect the advanced reactor and SMR sector?**
Advanced reactor developers depend on domestic enrichment capacity to fuel their designs — several use HALEU or LEU+ enrichments that are not widely available from current commercial suppliers. Streamlining enrichment facility licensing reduces one barrier to building that supply chain. The Yucca Mountain bill has less direct near-term impact on SMR developers but signals continued uncertainty on the back-end fuel cycle, which affects long-term project economics and licensing risk assessments.