SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4423

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 22, 2025

      The Senate Environment and Energy Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 4423.

      This bill would provide that the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is the sole State agency authorized to provide site approval for the construction of a small modular reactor (SMR) in the State.  The bill would also authorize the operator of a small modular reactor to store any spent nuclear fuel generated by the reactor on-site.

     As defined by the bill, “small modular reactor” means a nuclear fission reactor that: (1) has a rated electric generating capacity of no more than 300 megawatts; (2) is capable of being constructed and operated either alone or in combination with one or more similar reactors if additional reactors are or become necessary at a single site; and (3) is required to be licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

     Specifically, the bill would authorize the BPU to provide site approval to an SMR in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection.  The bill would authorize the BPU to approve a site for an SMR only if it is located in a municipality in which a nuclear energy facility has previously been constructed.  The bill would provide that the BPU’s site approval would supersede any municipal or county decisions to the contrary.  The bill would also require the BPU to develop, within one year after’s the bill’s enactment, an incentive program to provide financial incentives to support the construction of SMRs in the State.

     The bill would provide that an SMR’s authorization to store spent nuclear fuel would last until the development of a national high-level radioactive waste repository pursuant to the federal “Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.”  Under that law, the United States Department of Energy was directed to develop a permanent storage site for radioactive waste, but currently, a permanent storage site for radioactive waste has yet to be developed.  As a result, spent nuclear fuel is most often stored at the site of the nuclear reactor.