For more than 35 years, the lawyers of Morgan Lewis’ market-leading Nuclear Practice have represented the domestic nuclear industry. The firm represents the utility owners of more than 60 percent of the installed nuclear capacity in the United States, providing a full range of transactional, licensing, and regulatory services.
New Plants
The nuclear power industry is experiencing a renaissance, and Morgan Lewis is helping its clients to lead the way. We represent a number of companies that are positioning themselves to take full advantage of the rebirth of the nuclear option, including companies that are applying for design certifications, early site permits, and combined licenses. We helped one of our clients obtain the first design certification ever issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We are currently representing the first applicant for an early site permit, and we are advising several clients that are planning to apply for combined licenses. We are also assisting the industry’s trade group to resolve generic issues related to the licensing of new nuclear power plants.
Nuclear Power Plant Transactions
In recent years, with the advent of economic deregulation in the electric industry, nuclear power facilities are being bought, sold and, in some cases, reorganized to achieve improved economic and financial performance. Morgan Lewis has been in the forefront of this transition, helping companies to acquire nuclear facilities (some involving cross-border transactions) and to reorganize nuclear assets through the formation of operating and generating companies. These transactions call upon a unique combination of experience involving commercial and regulatory factors in the transfer of licenses under the Atomic Energy Act, as well as specialized tax problems, antitrust questions, and complex employment and labor relations considerations. The firm is also active in assisting the industry in developing legislative solutions to remove barriers that stand in the way of optimizing and realizing the full value of nuclear assets.
Current Nuclear Plant Regulation
Even as the industry works through this period of change and growth, current plant operations continue to be conducted in a very heavily regulated setting. Morgan Lewis attorneys provide counsel to nuclear utilities on every aspect of nuclear licensing and regulation, and related enforcement matters. We have unsurpassed experience in assisting nuclear plants to recover from regulatory-imposed shutdowns and negative ratings under NRC’s reactor oversight process. Our attorneys also frequently assist in the defense and conduct of investigations and in the development of comprehensive recovery plans for utilities that confront major regulatory performance issues. Morgan Lewis is actively involved in helping clients to respond to such current regulatory issues as license renewal, power uprates, and risk-informed applications.
The firm also participates on behalf of utility clients and the industry’s trade association in rulemakings and interactions with the NRC and Congress on a range of policy issues, including such matters as license renewal, decommissioning criteria, maintenance requirements, enforcement policy, NRC performance assessment processes and financial qualifications. These interactions with the agency and Congress also allow us to provide “real time” insight to our clients on evolving government policy, which is often critical in their business planning activities.
Enrichment and Fuel Cycle
Morgan Lewis represents a large and diverse group of clients, including domestic and foreign companies, in virtually every segment of the nuclear fuel business, from uranium conversion, through enrichment, and to the manufacture of finished fuel products. We also represent manufacturing companies, as well as healthcare and academic institutions, that use radioactive materials and are subject to NRC or state regulation.
Morgan Lewis represents the leading uranium enriching company in the United States. We also represent most of the nation’s principal fabricators of nuclear fuel on a range of domestic and international regulatory issues affecting their manufacturing and sales operations, including the only planned mixed-oxide fuel fabricator. Comparable services have been provided by Morgan Lewis to several major European suppliers of nuclear fuel, enrichment, and related services.
Nuclear Waste Management and Decommissioning
The firm’s nuclear practice has always been at the leading edge of radioactive waste management, decontamination, and decommissioning issues. We counsel clients regarding the financial assurance requirements for decommissioning liabilities and the management and tax treatment of billions of dollars held in trust funds. We counsel companies within and outside the nuclear industry on specific problems associated with radioactive waste management and decommissioning, including utilities, uranium converters, fuel fabrication companies, and other waste processing companies. Morgan Lewis assists these clients in developing decontamination and decommissioning plans and provides advice on governmental standards for radiological contamination and other licensing issues.
International
Morgan Lewis has provided advice to clients overseas for many years on developments in US nuclear regulation, international nuclear commerce, and related issues. Countries throughout the world closely follow the development and regulation of nuclear power in the United States. Morgan Lewis represents nuclear utilities and related nuclear business interests abroad, including companies in Japan, helping them follow and understand US regulatory policy and developments. In addition, Morgan Lewis counsels foreign investors considering ownership of US nuclear facilities. This “inbound investment” work takes advantage of our familiarity with legal constraints on foreign ownership of domestic nuclear facilities and transfers of nuclear technology, as well as evolving NRC requirements with respect to the financial qualifications issues associated with industry restructuring.
Nuclear-Related Employment Issues
Our lawyers represent clients in investigations of wrongdoing claims and defend clients in multiple forums, including the Department of Labor (DOL), the NRC, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and state and federal courts. We investigate and defend such claims on behalf of many nuclear utilities and vendors across the nation. We have integrated the litigation, white-collar defense, nuclear regulatory, and labor and employment law capabilities of Morgan Lewis to provide effective defenses in “whistleblower” claims and related investigations under Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act, and under the DOE Employee Protection Rule (10 C.F.R. 708). We also provide counsel in connection with various re-engineering and downsizing programs to help ensure compliance with laws that guarantee employees the right to raise safety concerns and to assist clients in developing management systems and training for responding to employee concerns. Additionally, to minimize client exposure to such claims, the firm performs Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) assessments and provides extensive counseling on the development of effective Employee Concerns Programs. We also provide a comprehensive management training program, which equips managers and supervisors with the basic tools and practical know-how to detect and prevent retaliatory situations. This training has been delivered to numerous nuclear utilities and DOE prime contractors and to DOE itself.
DOE Contractor Nuclear Operations
In addition to the firm’s extensive experience representing clients in the commercial nuclear power industry, Morgan Lewis has taken a leading role in assisting the DOE’s largest contractors in an array of complex legal, regulatory, contractual and operational issues. The principal areas of Morgan Lewis’ experience and expertise are labor, employment, wage-hour and employee benefits counseling, government contracts, environmental regulation, permitting and liabilities, external regulation of DOE contractors, liability issues, and Price-Anderson enforcement support.