Official Summary Text
AB 2647, as amended, Calderon.
Energy: nuclear
facilities: advanced nuclear reactors.
powerplants: assessment.
Existing law vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) with the exclusive jurisdiction to certify thermal powerplants with a generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more. Existing law prohibits the Energy Commission from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except those specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified.
Existing law, the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018, declares that it is the policy
of the state to achieve 100 percent zero-carbon electricity by 2045.
This bill would exempt advanced nuclear reactors, as defined, from that prohibition. The bill would require the
commission, before making a determination that an advanced nuclear reactor is not subject to the prohibition, to verify that the owner, operator, or developer of the advanced nuclear reactor has made legally enforceable commitment to comply with certain labor requirements. The bill would, except as provided, require the owner, operator, or developer of an advanced nuclear reactor that is certified by the commission to comply with those labor requirements.
This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before July 1, 2027, to prepare, as provided, a comprehensive assessment of the potential role for advanced nuclear technologies in supporting critical infrastructure in California, and of the potential for new, in-state nuclear powerplants to cost-effectively meet statewide needs for new electricity resources, and to meet the expressed policy of the state
described above. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to update the assessment as appropriate. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Commission, the Independent System Operator, and other public agencies to evaluate the potential of nuclear energy to meet long-term resource needs.