Split of Fusion Regulation from Fission Codified by New Law

A rendering of SPARC, a fusion energy system currently under design by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
CFS/MIT-PSFC — CAD Rendering by T. Henderson
President Joe Biden signed a bill on Tuesday that codifies the regulation of fusion energy systems under the framework used for particle accelerators rather than subjecting them to the more extensive regulations used for fission reactors. The provision
The act endorses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to classify the radioactive materials associated with nuclear fusion as “byproduct material,”
NRC staff are currently working to augment the byproduct material framework to cover fusion systems, with plans to publish a draft rule by March 2025.
According to a 2023 report from NRC staff
NRC defined near-term fusion systems as those currently considered for deployment through the 2030s and concluded they are unlikely to pose risks warranting treatment under the “utilization” facility framework applied to fission reactors. However, they recommended creating a hybrid framework for determining when a fusion energy system may be considered a utilization facility and how to regulate it. The commissioners ultimately directed
The fusion provision in the ADVANCE Act draws on language from the bipartisan Fusion Energy Act,
The rest of the ADVANCE Act focuses on accelerating the development of new fission reactors. For instance, it incentivizes companies to pursue fission-based nuclear reactors by cutting costs for advanced nuclear reactor application processes and giving financial prizes for the first advanced reactors that meet certain criteria and obtain licenses.
“With the ADVANCE Act being signed into law, we secured a landmark win for the future of nuclear energy here in America,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said in a press release.