HB1584 – Planning for advanced nuclear reactor technology.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Barnard (R; 8th District; Pasco) (Co-Sponsors Fitzgibbon, Lekanoff, Slatter, Fey, Ryu, Riccelli, Berry, Donaghy, and Timmons – Ds; Dye, Ybarra, Couture, Schmidt, and Sandlin – Rs)
Current status – Referred to the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy and Technology. Had a hearing March 10th; amended to restore natural gas to the list of cleaner energy sources to be developed as part of the state’s clean energy strategy, and passed out of committee March 24th. Referred to Rules. Returned to the House Committee on Environment and Energy for the 2024 Session.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

In the House – Passed
Had a hearing in the House Committee on Environment and Energy February 7th. Replaced by a substitute and passed out of committee February 16th. Referred to Rules, amended on the floor to add renewable gas and green hydrogen to the list of clean energy sources to be considered in the strategy, and passed by the House March 1st.

Substitute –
This adds a finding recognizing that long term storage of spent nuclear fuel  is an unsolved problem and saying the State should actively advocate for resolving it. It also drops the characterization of the energy technologies it says the State should develop as “cleaner” and drops natural gas from the list.

Summary –
The bill would amend the State’s current statement of the principles guiding the development and implementation of its energy strategy to include “advanced nuclear reactor technology” in the list of cleaner energy technologies to be developed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.