Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending June 29. Feedback welcome at info@clearpathaction.org. 

SENATE APPROVES STRONG CLEAN ENERGY SPENDING STRATEGY 

The Senate approved a FY19 energy spending bill with critical eagle-eyed investments in carbon capture, advanced nuclear and energy storage.

One key addition from what appropriators initially approved in committee is an advanced nuclear amendment navigated to passage by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) devoting $15 million for a demonstration project to ensure domestic supply of high assay low enriched uranium (HA-LEU), which is needed to fuel many advanced nuclear reactor designs. There is a looming shortage in the domestic supply of HA-LEU, which is commercially produced in countries such as France, Russia and China, but not in the U.S. Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield and Pillsbury Law Firm Senior Associate Anne Leidich lay out 10 recommendations for lawmakers, policymakers and NRC to step up to this supply challenge in a recent white paper sponsored by ClearPath and the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council.

RELATED READ: ClearPath in-house nuclear expert Spencer Nelson back in April ticked off a few things Congress needed to do to spur advanced nuclear. Some boxes have been checked, others haven’t.

SPEAKING OF SPENCER 

He was selected as one of 19 participants in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s 2018 Executive Energy Leadership program, which provides non-technical business, governmental and community leaders an opportunity to learn about advanced energy tech, analytical tools and financing. KUDOS TO SCISPENCE

BARRASSO DISCUSSES “USE IT” ACTION 

Sen. John Barrasso said he anticipates Senate action on his latest carbon capture bill, S. 2602, the USE IT Act. He told reporters at a carbon capture Capitol Hill event that he is continuing to work on legislation to incentivize adoption of CCUS technologies that garner wide bipartisan support.  Barrasso added that support of Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. and others makes it “easier to get as part of a larger [legislative] package.”

STEEL INDUSTRY LEADERS JOIN CARBON CAPTURE COALITION 

The Carbon Capture Coalition, a non-partisan national coalition including ClearPath dedicated to fostering widespread adoption of carbon capture technologies, announced that ArcelorMittal and United Steelworkers joined the Coalition. Carbon capture provides a critical path to reducing steelmaking’s greenhouse gas emissions, while the construction of new capture projects of all sizes will boost demand for steel and steel jobs. Coalition leaders say the partnership will help foster commercial deployment of carbon capture technology that is critical to future U.S. global leadership.

UK SAYS CCS BACK ON TRACK

Carbon capture and storage is back on track with a new full-scale project called the Acorn Project at St Fergus.  It is expected to open in the 2030s. The announcement was made at the Carbon Capture & Storage Association (CCSA) reception at Westminster and was coupled with a discussion of a major industry report being launched next month. 

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) CCS director Ashley Ibbett announced the CCS cross-challenge taskforce report will be published next month. READ MORE

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