CHIPS and Science Act (nuclear & fusion R&D)
Enacted law Source: Original editorial Original synthesis from primary government sources — not archive content.
- Law
- P.L. 117-167
- Bill / vehicle
- H.R.4346
- Status
- Enacted law
- Date
- Signed Aug. 9, 2022
- Administration
- Biden
- Topic
- Workforce; university reactors; fusion R&D
- Sponsors
- Bipartisan competitiveness package
What it does
Best known for semiconductors, but it also authorized broad DOE nuclear and fusion research — roughly $390 million (FY2023–FY2027) to build new university research reactors and isotope facilities, funding to modernize existing university reactors, and major fusion authorizations (materials, pilot-plant design teams, ITER). Note: these are authorizations — ceilings that still need annual appropriations to spend.
Why it matters
Targeted the workforce bottleneck: a nuclear build-out needs trained engineers and physicists. The fusion provisions also gave that emerging industry an early federal foothold.
Primary sources
Learn the underlying ideas
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