In the months leading up to the state's 2026 legislative session, state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, hinted frequently at his desire for Washington state to embrace nuclear energy.
A bill filed ahead of the session this year could make that goal a reality.
Braun filed Senate Bill 5821 at the beginning of December. It’s summarized by the lawmaker as a policy that would “integrate advanced nuclear energy into the state energy strategy."
The bill was promptly introduced to the Washington state Senate on the first day of session, Monday, Jan. 12, and referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology for a hearing before the end of the first week of session.
The new bill is sponsored by a bipartisan partnership between Braun and state Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham. Shewmake serves as chair of the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology, possibly explaining the bill's speedy hearing assignment in the committee.
The bill calls for the Washington state Department of Commerce to seek non-state funding to develop a “nuclear power strategic framework” and publish that framework document by the end of the year, Dec. 15, 2026. Commerce is also responsible for integrating the framework and using its findings in the development of the state's next review of the state energy strategy.
“The Department of Commerce is directed to seek non-state funds to develop a nuclear power strategic framework to assess strategies, benefits and costs, including recommendations for implementation, for ways that advanced nuclear deployment may add incremental value to the state energy strategy in pursuit of its policy and market goals,” the proposed legislation states.
The framework is intended to lay out the steps the state can take to develop its nuclear infrastructure as well as the funding available to support the work.
The bill stipulates the framework should include information on essential steps, needed funding, necessary changes to state policy, siting processes and many other factors to consider in the development of nuclear energy in the state.
The language of the bill states that developing the state's nuclear energy industry will be essential to meeting aggressive emissions goals laid out by the state. It adds that tax incentives and government grants are making the technology easier to support financially.
“Under current federal and state policy and tax incentive structures, fission nuclear power technologies are increasingly likely to be economically viable and technically and operationally feasible options to build to meet the growing energy demand and the state's required transition to cleaner energy,” states the bill.
The new bill that could prompt a statewide embrace of nuclear energy will have its first committee hearing on Friday, Jan. 16, at 10:30 a.m. The hearing will start the legislation’s journey through the Washington state Legislature on its way to becoming law, should state lawmakers embrace Senate Bill 5821.
