FY2026 Appropriations (Energy & Water) — nuclear funding

What it does

Codified the 119th Congress's nuclear funding priorities: roughly $1.8 billion for DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, and a large reprogramming (~$5.1 billion of unobligated clean-energy funds, with ~$3.1 billion redirected to nuclear) toward reactor demonstrations and small-modular-reactor awards. It also capitalized the rebranded Office of Energy Dominance Financing (formerly the Loan Programs Office) to back loans for new commercial reactors.

Why it matters

Money is where intent becomes real. This bill moved billions from carbon-capture and renewables programs into nuclear demonstration and the loan capacity behind the administration's goal of backing ten large new reactors.