A trio of top U.S. nuclear energy officials will testify Tuesday before members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee as lawmakers consider more than a dozen bills aimed at increasing nuclear power and meeting the Biden administration's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

The hearing was announced last week by House Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and House Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC).

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Witnesses include Daniel Dorman, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Committee; Dr. Michael Goff, the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy; and Jeffrey Merrifield, the chairman of the Advanced Nuclear Working Group at the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council.

They plan to testify about nuclear energy’s role in ensuring the U.S. can deliver on its goal of decarbonizing its power grid by the year 203, a particularly daunting challenge, especially given the U.S. targets for electric vehicle adoption, as well as the need for the U.S. to work with its allies to help build out a supply chain for uranium that does not involve Russia.

Lawmakers on the House Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee are preparing to advance more than a dozen pieces of legislation aimed at advancing U.S. leadership in nuclear energy. As of 2022, the U.S. generated roughly 18% of its energy from nuclear power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Biden administration has sought to prioritize nuclear energy as it seeks to embrace clean and reliable energy options, and in 2022 announced a new $6 billion Energy Department initiative aimed at keeping aging U.S. commercial nuclear facilities online.

Lawmakers will consider bills to streamline U.S. nuclear technology permitting and licensing, requiring the NRC to report regularly on its ability to facilitate efficient, timely environmental reviews on nuclear reactors and applications, and to address the “insufficient compensation and recruitment of employees and other personnel” of the NRC, among other things.

"Nuclear is poised to play a pivotal role in meeting U.S. energy security and carbon reduction goals via the long-term operation of our existing large light-water reactors and deployment of new, advanced plants," Maria Korsnick, the president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, is slated to say in her opening remarks.

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"China and Russia are aggressively broadening their geopolitical leverage with nuclear technology export sales. For U.S. companies to succeed abroad, international customers expect U.S. technologies to be deployed here at home," she will add, according to a copy of her prepared remarks.