II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5421 

To provide enhanced provisions for advanced nuclear energy projects receiving 

loan guarantees through the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 4, 2024 

Mr. RISCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide enhanced provisions for advanced nuclear energy 

projects receiving loan guarantees through the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating Reliable 

5 Capacity Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘ARC Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NEW NUCLEAR INVESTMENT ACCELERATOR PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to in9 crease cost certainty for capital-intensive projects for 

10 which a guarantee is provided under section 1703 or 1706 


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1 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16513, 

2 16517). 

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘account’’ means the 

5 New Nuclear Investment Accelerator Program Ac6 count established by subsection (c)(1). 

7 (2) ADVANCED NUCLEAR ENERGY PROJECT.— 

8 The term ‘‘advanced nuclear energy project’’ means 

9 a project for 1 or more advanced nuclear reactors 

10 (as defined in section 951(b) of the Energy Policy 

11 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271(b))). 

12 (3) CLASS 2 ESTIMATE.—The term ‘‘Class 2 es13 timate’’ means an estimate of the cost of a quali14 fying project that is prepared in accordance with the 

15 industry-specific cost estimate standards for nuclear 

16 power industries described in Recommended Practice 

17 115R–21 of the Association for the Advancement of 

18 Cost Engineering entitled ‘‘Cost Estimate Classifica19 tion System—As Applied in Engineering, Procure20 ment, and Construction for the Nuclear Power In21 dustries’’ (or a successor document). 

22 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the Loan Programs Office. 

24 (5) EXPECTED PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The term 

25 ‘‘expected payment amount’’ means the amount that 


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1 the Director expects to pay to the Federal Financing 

2 Bank under subsection (d)(2)(B) when a qualifying 

3 project is placed in service. 

4 (6) GUARANTEE.—The term ‘‘guarantee’’ has 

5 the meaning given the term in section 1701 of the 

6 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16511). 

7 (7) LOAN PROGRAMS OFFICE.—The term 

8 ‘‘Loan Programs Office’’ means the Loan Programs 

9 Office of the Department of Energy. 

10 (8) OVERRUN.—The term ‘‘overrun’’, with re11 spect to the costs of a qualifying project, means any 

12 costs in excess of the point base estimate of the 

13 Class 2 estimate approved as described in paragraph 

14 (11)(C)(iv). 

15 (9) POINT BASE ESTIMATE.—The term ‘‘point 

16 base estimate’’, with respect to a Class 2 estimate, 

17 means the value of the Class 2 estimate without ad18 justment for the accuracy range or contingency. 

19 (10) PROJECT DELIVERY PLAN.—The term 

20 ‘‘project delivery plan’’ means a project plan that in21 cludes— 

22 (A) a project execution plan (as defined in 

23 Recommended Practice 10S–90 of the Associa24 tion for the Advancement of Cost Engineering 


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1 entitled ‘‘Cost Engineering Terminology’’ (or a 

2 successor document)); 

3 (B) a contract risk allocation strategy 

4 that— 

5 (i) aligns cost and risk incentives 

6 among all contracted stakeholders; and 

7 (ii) follows— 

8 (I) the best practices described in 

9 Recommended Practice 67R–11 of the 

10 Association for the Advancement of 

11 Cost Engineering entitled ‘‘Contract 

12 Risk Allocation—As Applied in Engi13 neering, Procurement, and Construc14 tion’’ (or a successor document); or 

15 (II) other appropriate industry 

16 best practices, as determined by the 

17 Secretary; and 

18 (C) a plan for the division of responsibility 

19 between contracted stakeholders that describes 

20 roles and responsibilities for execution of that 

21 project plan. 

22 (11) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘‘quali23 fying project’’ means an advanced nuclear energy 

24 project— 


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1 (A) that is reasonably expected to be con2 structed on time and on budget; 

3 (B) that has an expected cost equal to or 

4 greater than $2,500,000,000, according to the 

5 Class 2 estimate for that advanced nuclear en6 ergy project; and 

7 (C) with respect to which— 

8 (i) the loan amount expected to be 

9 guaranteed under section 1703 or 1706 of 

10 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

11 16513, 16517) is— 

12 (I) loaned through the Federal 

13 Financing Bank; and 

14 (II) equal to or greater than 

15 $2,000,000,000; 

16 (ii) the borrower of that amount— 

17 (I) has established and submitted 

18 to the Director a project delivery plan; 

19 (II) has established and sub20 mitted to the Secretary— 

21 (aa) a Class 2 estimate 

22 with— 

23 (AA) basis of estimate 

24 documentation for that 

25 Class 2 estimate; and 


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1 (BB) a qualifying 

2 project cost risk analysis; 

3 (bb) a resource-loaded inte4 grated project schedule with— 

5 (AA) basis of estimate 

6 documentation for that re7 source-loaded integrated 

8 project schedule; and 

9 (BB) a qualifying 

10 project schedule risk anal11 ysis; and 

12 (cc) a labor survey analysis 

13 report with— 

14 (AA) basis of estimate 

15 documentation for that labor 

16 survey analysis report; and 

17 (BB) a labor risk anal18 ysis; and 

19 (III) has established procedures 

20 with the Secretary to ensure enhanced 

21 project oversight, including— 

22 (aa) a rolling forecast 

23 that— 

24 (AA) updates the re25 source-loaded integrated 


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1 project schedule not less fre2 quently than annually, in 

3 alignment with the approved 

4 changes in the applicable 

5 change management pro6 gram; and 

7 (BB) includes a new 

8 qualifying project schedule 

9 risk analysis to match the 

10 most recent update; and 

11 (bb) a quarterly meeting be12 tween the Secretary, the Direc13 tor, and senior-level representa14 tives of all contracted stake15 holders in the project to review 

16 progress and, if necessary, decide 

17 corrective actions and responsibil18 ities for implementation; 

19 (iii) the Director has approved the 

20 project delivery plan submitted under 

21 clause (ii)(I) prior to financial close; and 

22 (iv) the Secretary has approved the 

23 project planning documents submitted 

24 under clause (ii)(II) prior to financial 

25 close. 


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1 (12) QUALIFYING PROJECT COST RISK ANAL2 YSIS.—The term ‘‘qualifying project cost risk anal3 ysis’’ means a cost risk analysis that follows— 

4 (A) the best practices described in the doc5 ument of the Government Accountability Office 

6 entitled ‘‘Cost Estimating and Assessment 

7 Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Man8 aging Program Costs’’, numbered GAO–20– 

9 195G, and dated March 2020 (or a successor 

10 document); or 

11 (B) other appropriate industry best prac12 tices, as determined by the Secretary. 

13 (13) QUALIFYING PROJECT SCHEDULE RISK

14 ANALYSIS.—The term ‘‘qualifying project schedule 

15 risk analysis’’ means a schedule risk analysis that 

16 follows— 

17 (A) the document of the Government Ac18 countability Office entitled ‘‘Schedule Assess19 ment Guide: Best Practices for Project Sched20 ules’’, numbered GAO–16–89G, and dated De21 cember 2015 (or a successor document); or 

22 (B) other appropriate industry best prac23 tices, as determined by the Secretary. 

24 (14) RESOURCE-LOADED INTEGRATED PROJECT

25 SCHEDULE.—The term ‘‘resource-loaded integrated 


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1 project schedule’’ means an approved schedule that 

2 follows— 

3 (A) the best practices described in the doc4 ument of the Government Accountability Office 

5 entitled ‘‘Schedule Assessment Guide: Best 

6 Practices for Project Schedules’’, numbered 

7 GAO–16–89G, and dated December 2015 (or a 

8 successor document); or 

9 (B) other appropriate industry best prac10 tices, as determined by the Secretary. 

11 (15) ROLLING FORECAST.—The term ‘‘rolling 

12 forecast’’ means a process for regularly updating a 

13 resource-loaded integrated project schedule. 

14 (16) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

15 means the Secretary of Energy, acting through the 

16 Director of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstra17 tions of the Department of Energy. 

18 (c) NEW NUCLEAR INVESTMENT ACCELERATOR

19 PROGRAM ACCOUNT.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

21 the Loan Programs Office an account, to be known 

22 as the ‘‘New Nuclear Investment Accelerator Pro23 gram Account’’. 

24 (2) MANAGEMENT.—The account shall be man25 aged by the Director. 


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1 (3) INITIAL FINANCING.—The following 

2 amounts shall be transferred to the account on the 

3 date of enactment of this Act: 

4 (A) Of the unobligated balances of 

5 amounts previously made available under the 

6 heading ‘‘NUCLEAR ENERGY’’ under the head7 ing ‘‘ENERGY PROGRAMS’’ under the head8 ing ‘‘DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’’ in divi9 sion J of the Infrastructure Investment and 

10 Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1373), 

11 $1,100,000,000. 

12 (B) Of the unobligated balance of amounts 

13 previously made available under section 

14 50144(a) of Public Law 117–169 (136 Stat. 

15 2044), $2,500,000,000. 

16 (4) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts 

17 transferred to the account under paragraph (3) or 

18 otherwise deposited in the account shall remain 

19 available until expended. 

20 (5) USE OF AMOUNTS.—The Director may use 

21 amounts in the account to make payments pursuant 

22 to subsection (d)(2)(B). 

23 (6) OBLIGATION OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts in 

24 the account shall be— 


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1 (A) contingently obligated to a borrower on 

2 the approval by the Secretary of a conditional 

3 commitment that includes satisfaction of the re4 quirements for a qualifying project under this 

5 section as a condition of financial close, subject 

6 to the conditions that— 

7 (i) the borrower shall be considered 

8 current so long as the borrower continues 

9 to make progress in good faith toward sat10 isfying the requirements agreed upon in 

11 the conditional commitment, as determined 

12 by the Secretary; and 

13 (ii) if the Secretary determines that 

14 the borrower is not making progress in 

15 good faith as described in clause (i), the 

16 contingently obligated amounts shall be 

17 made available to other borrowers; and 

18 (B) obligated to the applicable borrower at 

19 financial close. 

20 (7) OBLIGATION AND EXPENDITURE.—The ob21 ligation of amounts in the account shall not be con22 sidered to be an expenditure of those amounts unless 

23 the amounts are disbursed pursuant to subsection 

24 (d)(2)(B). 

25 (d) OVERRUN LIABILITY.— 


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1 (1) BORROWER LIABILITY FOR INITIAL COST

2 OVERRUNS.—With respect to a qualifying project for 

3 which a guarantee is provided under section 1703 or 

4 1706 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

5 16513, 16517), the borrower on the guaranteed loan 

6 shall be responsible for all overruns until the cumu7 lative expenses of the qualifying project exceed 120 

8 percent of the point base estimate of the Class 2 es9 timate. 

10 (2) PAYMENT BY THE DIRECTOR.— 

11 (A) EXPECTED PAYMENT AMOUNT.—With 

12 respect to a qualifying project for which a guar13 antee is provided under section 1703 or 1706 of 

14 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

15 16513, 16517), the Director shall update the 

16 expected payment amount quarterly, subject to 

17 the conditions that— 

18 (i) cumulative expenses of the quali19 fying project have exceeded 120 percent of 

20 the point base estimate of the Class 2 esti21 mate; 

22 (ii) the quarterly increase to the ex23 pected payment amount does not exceed 50 

24 percent of total expenses in that quarter 

25 for the qualifying project; 


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1 (iii) the updated expected payment 

2 amount does not exceed the maximum pay3 ment amount described in subparagraph 

4 (B)(ii); 

5 (iv) the applicable guaranteed loan is 

6 not in default; 

7 (v) the prospect of increasing the pay8 ment amount does not incentivize unneces9 sary spending; and 

10 (vi) any increases to the payment 

11 amount are made in accordance with good 

12 governance principles. 

13 (B) PAYMENT.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—When a qualifying 

15 project is placed in service, the Director 

16 shall— 

17 (I) determine the final payment 

18 amount based on— 

19 (aa) the expected payment 

20 amount determined under sub21 paragraph (A); and 

22 (bb) any additional cumu23 lative expenses of the applicable 

24 qualifying project, determined in 


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1 accordance with that subpara2 graph; and 

3 (II) pay that final payment 

4 amount to the Federal Financing 

5 Bank (as the lender of the applicable 

6 guaranteed loan) from the account. 

7 (ii) MAXIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.— 

8 The maximum payment amount under this 

9 subparagraph for any 1 qualifying project 

10 may not exceed $1,200,000,000. 

11 (iii) APPLICATION OF PAYMENT.—A 

12 payment under this subparagraph shall be 

13 applied to the principal amount of the ap14 plicable guaranteed loan. 

15 (iv) REQUIREMENT.—The Director 

16 may make a payment under this subpara17 graph only if the applicable guaranteed 

18 loan is not in default. 

19 (C) TAX TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For 

20 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 

21 1986— 

22 (i) no amount shall be included in the 

23 gross income of the borrower described in 

24 paragraph (1) by reason of any payment 

25 under subparagraph (B), and 


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1 (ii) in the case of any such borrower 

2 that is a partnership or S corporation, any 

3 amount excluded from income by reason of 

4 clause (i) shall be treated as tax exempt in5 come for purposes of section 705 and 1366 

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

7 (e) ENHANCED FINANCING TERMS FOR QUALIFYING

8 PROJECTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding title XVII 

10 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16511 

11 et seq.) or any other provision of law, the Director 

12 shall offer the enhanced financing terms described in 

13 paragraph (2) for a guarantee provided under sec14 tion 1703 or 1706 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 16513, 

15 16517) with respect to a qualifying project. 

16 (2) ENHANCED FINANCING TERMS DE17 SCRIBED.—The enhanced financing terms referred 

18 to in paragraph (1) are the following: 

19 (A) Notwithstanding section 1702(c) of the 

20 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

21 16512(c)), a guarantee may be an amount up 

22 to 200 percent of the point base estimate of the 

23 Class 2 estimate approved as described in sub24 section (a)(10)(C)(iv) for the qualifying project 

25 that is the subject of the guarantee. 


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1 (B) The Director shall seek a commitment 

2 from the Federal Financing Bank (as lender of 

3 a guaranteed loan) to amend or restructure, if 

4 appropriate, the applicable guaranteed loan to 

5 reflect the revised principal amount after pay6 ment under subsection (d)(2)(B). 

7 (3) INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT.— 

8 (A) PUBLIC UTILITY PROPERTY.—Section 

9 50(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

10 is amended— 

11 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

12 (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and 

13 (ii), respectively, and by moving such 

14 clauses 2 ems to the right, 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘Section 46(f)’’ and 

16 inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Section 46(f)’’, 

18 (iii) by striking ‘‘At the election of the 

19 taxpayer’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) At the election of the taxpayer’’, 

21 (iv) by striking ‘‘election under this 

22 paragraph’’ each place it appears and in23 serting ‘‘election under this subpara24 graph’’, and 


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1 (v) by adding at the end the following 

2 new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(C) At the election of the taxpayer, this 

4 paragraph shall not apply to any qualified 

5 project (as defined in section 2(b) of the ARC 

6 Act of 2024). Rules similar to the rules of 

7 clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B) shall 

8 apply for purposes of an election under this 

9 subparagraph.’’. 

10 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 

11 made by this paragraph shall apply to taxable 

12 years beginning after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (f) SUBMISSION OF MEETING MINUTES TO CON15 GRESS.—Not later than 7 days after each quarterly meet16 ing described in subsection (b)(11)(B)(ii)(III)(bb), the 

17 meeting minutes, which have been approved by the con18 tracted stakeholders in the applicable qualifying project, 

19 shall be submitted by the Secretary to— 

20 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re21 sources and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

22 Senate; and 

23 (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

24 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

25 of Representatives. 


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1 SEC. 3. OTHER RELATED PROVISIONS. 

2 (a) EXCEPTION TO DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT

3 PROVISION FOR CERTAIN UTILITIES AND MILITARY IN4 STALLATIONS.—Section 50141(d)(3) of Public Law 117– 

5 169 (136 Stat. 2043) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

9 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(E) projects partnering with— 

12 ‘‘(i) a Federal power marketing ad13 ministration or the Tennessee Valley Au14 thority; 

15 ‘‘(ii) an entity that procures energy 

16 for a military installation (as defined in 

17 section 2801(c) of title 10, United States 

18 Code) that is managed by the Secretary of 

19 Defense or a contractor of the Secretary of 

20 Defense; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) the General Services Adminis22 tration for the purpose of energy procure23 ment.’’. 

24 (b) ALLOWING GOVERNMENT FACILITIES AS

25 BROWNFIELD SITES.—Section 45(b)(11)(B)(i) of the In26 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘(B), 


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1 and’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) (excluding clauses (ii) and (vii), 

2 and clause (i) to the extent that clause (i) applies to a 

3 facility described in clause (ii) or (vii), of that subpara4 graph), and’’. 

Æ 


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