Alert 02.18.22
Alert
Alert
05.19.22
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law previously authorized and appropriated $6 billion for fiscal years 2022 – 2026 to establish the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program to prevent closures of nuclear power plants. Under the CNC, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is authorized to provide financial support for those existing nuclear reactors which are projected to cease operations due to economic factors. We previously described the CNC Program in greater depth in February 2022, when DOE released a Notice of Intent (NOI) and Request for Information (RFI) describing and seeking feedback on its plan for implementing the CNC Program.
On April 20, DOE announced that it was seeking applications and sealed bid submissions from owners or operators of nuclear reactors which wish to participate in the CNC Program. Certification for DOE’s first award period is limited to nuclear reactors that have already publicly announced their intention to cease operations. Future award periods are estimated to commence in the first quarter of FY 2023 and will not be limited to nuclear reactors that have publicly announced their intentions to cease operations.
DOE also released guidance documents outlining its process for implementing the CNC Program and providing instructions on how applicants may apply for the program. DOE’s guidance documents describe the timelines, deliverables and other requirements for owners or operators of nuclear reactors that are eligible to become certified nuclear reactors and provide instructions on formulating and submitting sealed bids to receive CNC credit allocations. The guidance documents also clarify the certification criteria, application content requirements, evaluation process and methodologies, eligibility periods and anticipated timelines of the CNC Program. A detailed Certification Application and Bid Submission Checklist for the first award period is included in Appendix A to the guidance.
Update: The original deadline for submission of certification applications and sealed bids for the first award period was on May 19, 2022. On Wednesday, May 18, the DOE announced that it was extending the application deadline to July 5, 2022. The extension provides an additional 47 days for owners and operators of eligible nuclear reactors to submit their applications for certification and sealed bids for credits. While the first CNC cycle remains for reactors that have already publicly announced an economic-based closure, the DOE also announced that it is currently developing guidance for the second CNC award cycle, which will be open to more reactors.
Application information and bid submissions should be submitted here. Pillsbury’s top-rated nuclear team stands ready to assist with such efforts.