UCAN Power Endorsement of the MORE American Fuel Act

October 29, 2026

Dear Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Pallone,

We write on behalf of the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power (UCAN Power) to endorse S.
5249, the MORE American Fuel Act of 2026, and to urge the Committee to take up the U.S. Senate
language. The bill cleared the Senate by unanimous consent and now awaits action in the U.S. House
of Representatives.

We applaud the Committee for its unanimous 43-0 vote to pass H.R. 9612, the American Enrichment
Deployment Act. That vote reflected a clear, bipartisan understanding that the United States must
rebuild its capacity to produce its own nuclear fuel. The Senate has indicated, however, that it cannot
move H.R. 9612 forward because of objections from a small number of senators. S. 5249 advances
the same goal, and the Senate has already passed it. Moving forward with the Senate language in S.
5249 offers a clear path to completing the Committee’s work this Congress.

America’s nuclear industry began with enrichment. The plants built at Oak Ridge, Paducah, and
Portsmouth to meet military requirements supplied fuel for the nation’s deterrent and naval reactors
and, later, for the commercial fleet. Utilities had neither the resources nor the technology to produce
enriched fuel on their own, and without that defense-built foundation, the commercial industry might
never have flourished. In the decades since, foreign government-owned and government-supported
enterprises have undercut the domestic supply chain, and U.S. enrichment capacity has fallen to
historic lows. Russia now holds the largest enrichment capacity in the world. Congress banned imports
of Russian enriched uranium in 2024, and that ban takes full effect in 2028. Congress also
appropriated over $3 billion that year to catalyze domestic enrichment, but restoring U.S. fuel
production at scale will require far more, and it must happen quickly. UCAN Power has long maintained
that the strength of the U.S. nuclear industrial base is a national security imperative, and enrichment
is the foundation on which that base rests.

The need is most acute for the advanced reactors that are the focus of UCAN Power’s work. Many
advanced designs, and microreactors in particular, require high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU),
and no commercial-scale HALEU supply chain exists in the United States today. HALEU makes up a
disproportionate share of microreactors’ operating costs, so their commercial viability depends on a
cost-effective domestic supply. The demand is real and growing. Programs such as the Army’s Janus
initiative aim to power military installations with small reactors by 2027 and 2028, the Navy is exploring
advanced reactors for its shore facilities, and President Trump has set a goal of quadrupling U.S.
nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050.

S. 5249 is a targeted reform that clears a barrier to deployment without lowering the bar for safety.
Today, an enrichment company cannot break ground until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
completes a licensing process that is more burdensome than for other fuel cycle facilities, adding delay
and cost without improving safety. The bill would let an applicant begin construction once the NRC
has docketed its application, at its own financial risk, so that building and licensing can move together.
Working with the NRC to maintain effective safety standards and protocols is a core part of UCAN
Power’s mission, and the bill preserves them. The NRC keeps its full authority to review, condition,
inspect, and deny applications. No facility may install equipment, introduce uranium hexafluoride, or
begin production without a license, and state, local, and Tribal governments must receive advance
notice before construction begins. S. 5249 helps close the gap between the full phase out of Russian
imports and the capacity expansion that advanced reactors need for near-term deployment.

UCAN Power advocates for credible, affordable business cases for the development, production, and
long-term sustainment of advanced reactors, and for policies that grow domestic government, military,
and commercial markets for them. Fuel is central to both. The capital to build new enrichment capacity
will come from the private sector, and private capital follows demand and certainty. Firm commitments
from the Department of War and other reactor customers give developers the order book they need
to contract for fuel, and that demand in turn gives enrichers the confidence to commit capital. S. 5249
strengthens that chain by shortening the time between commitment and production. Every month
saved in construction brings domestic HALEU and low-enriched uranium closer to market, strengthens
the business case for advanced reactors, and builds the skilled workforce and industrial base that our
national security depends on.

UCAN Power exists to ensure that the United States leads the world in advanced nuclear technology.
The United States built its nuclear leadership on a strong domestic fuel supply, and it cannot restore
that leadership without one. We therefore urge the Committee to take up the Senate-passed language
of S. 5249, the MORE American Fuel Act, so that American enrichers can begin building now and the
advanced reactors our members are developing will run on American fuel.

For background, UCAN Power is a non-partisan, consensus-based organization of nuclear technology
developers, operators, and advocates spanning the energy, space, environmental, and national
security sectors. Our mission is to educate, promote, and advocate for policies that accelerate the
development and deployment of advanced reactor technologies, so that the United States leads the
world in developing, manufacturing, and deploying them. Whether an advanced reactor powers a
military installation, supplies process heat, meets rising electricity demand, supports operations in
space, or produces medical isotopes, it depends on one thing our members cannot provide
themselves: a secure, domestic supply of nuclear fuel. That is why UCAN Power supports S. 5249.

Sincerely,
The United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power

cc:
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse