Today, the U.S. Senate voted 96-3 to agree to Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, S.Amdt.999, a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 that directs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a nuclear fuel program with the purpose of onshoring nuclear fuel production to ensure a disruption in Russian uranium supply would not impact the development of advanced reactors or the operation of the United States’ light-water reactor fleet. The amendment was previously introduced as the Nuclear Fuel Security Act of 2023.
Chairman Manchin introduced the bipartisan amendment with Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee.
“I want to thank everyone for voting for this amendment. Finally, the United States is going to start taking care of its own and producing the enriched uranium we need rather than depending on Russia. It’s long past due, and we finally, with this amendment, will get started in the right direction,” said Chairman Manchin in remarks on the Senate floor.
To watch a video of Chairman Manchin’s full remarks on the Senate floor, please click here.