Up & Atom

Leaders from 34 countries met in Brussels, Belgium on March 21 for the first Nuclear Energy Summit. The purpose of the summit was to provide participating governments the opportunity to share their vision and plans for using nuclear power to achieve net-zero emissions and promote sustainable development.

Over the last few years, investors and financial markets have become more focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in making investment decisions. ESG considers how investments impact the environment, social factors, and governance issues. Investors are increasingly applying these nonfinancial factors in making investment decisions.

Read the recent LawFlash prepared by our energy and tax lawyers discussing several key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) that bolster a broad spectrum of new and existing activities in the nuclear industry.

In this Law360 article, Ryan Lighty discusses the US Congress’s efforts to incentivize coal-to-nuclear transitions. With the recently passed Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, Congress authorized a new program to foster the deployment of next-generation nuclear facilities at depowered coal sites.

Nuclear energy promises an available and adaptable source of zero-carbon energy. As such, it is poised to play a significant role in the global drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. While some energy companies and governments have recently announced plans to phase out their use of nuclear power, others are looking at nuclear power as a tool to mitigate the rising cost of oil and gas and to reinforce their energy security.

Our colleagues in the environmental practice discuss recent US regulatory and legislative developments addressing climate change and renewable energy. They highlight the success in California as a possible model for the United States. Read the Law360 article.

For a more detailed analysis of President Joe Biden’s executive orders addressing the “existential threat” of climate change, read the energy practice LawFlash.