Provide Logistical Aid to airports via advanced Nuclear Energy Act or the PLANE Act
This bill directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other agencies to establish procedures to deploy microreactors at airports. A microreactor is an advanced nuclear reactor, including a portable nuclear reactor, that has an electricity generating capacity of not more than 20 megawatts of electricity and not more than 100 megawatts of thermal energy.
Specifically, deployment procedures must be established to respond to a primary power source disruption event stemming from a natural disaster. The FAA, the NRC, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Energy must collaborate to establish these procedures to deploy microreactors as soon as practicable.
After these procedures are finalized, the FAA must update the agency's guidance to consider the use of microreactors in airport emergency plans. Further, the FAA must update the airport emergency plan requirements to encourage certified airports to consider utilizing microreactors to provide backup power in the case of an emergency event that results in a primary power source disruption.