Policy and licensing / Kentucky
Kentucky KRS 164.2805: Nuclear Reactor Site Readiness Pilot Program
Kentucky's compiled KRS 164.2805 took effect on 15 July 2026. It creates a nuclear site-readiness pilot and allows the General Assembly, on the Authority's recommendation, to award application-cost grants capped at $25 million per project. The covered facility is Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later, not a small modular reactor as such. No award is recorded.
- Category
- Laws, rules and executive directives
- Status
- In effect
- Instrument
- statute · Ky. Rev. Stat. § 164.2805 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, sec. 1)
- Issued by
- Kentucky General Assembly
- Jurisdiction
- Kentucky
- Affects
- Project funding
- In effect from
- 15 Jul 2026 · actual · day
- Expiry or completion
- None recorded
- Operative text
- Kentucky Revised Statutes 164.2805 (Kentucky Legislative Research Commission compiled section, opened 4 October 2026)
- Last checked · next review
- 2026-10-04 · 2027-04-15
Legal and geographic scope
Current compiled statute, effective 15 July 2026. The Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority is directed to create a pilot program to help applicants seek NRC early site permits, construction permits, or combined licenses for new nuclear energy generating facilities in the Commonwealth. On the Authority's recommendation, the General Assembly may award a grant of up to one-third of actual application costs, not to exceed $25 million per project. The facility definition is Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later, selling at least some electricity to the public. It is not a small-modular-reactor definition. A grant authorization is not an award, and neither is an NRC permit.
Not approved or still pending
The statute says the General Assembly may award up to one-third of costs, not to exceed $25,000,000 per project. This page records no applicant, no recommendation, no appropriation, and no award. Forfeiture conditions apply if a recipient misses later NRC or construction deadlines. No project is named. A Kentucky location does not create eligibility.
Dated lifecycle
- 15 Jul 2026 · actual · day · Took effect — The compiled statute says it was created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 56, section 1, effective 15 July 2026. It authorizes a site-readiness grant process. The page records no award and no approval day for the act. (Kentucky Revised Statutes 164.2805)
Definitions in this instrument
- Nuclear energy generating facility (KRS 164.2805(1)(i)): A facility containing a nuclear reactor of Generation III Plus, Generation IV, or later design that produces electricity, at least some of which is sold to the public.
Legal definition used by this instrument only; SMRMap's inclusion rule for SMRs is separate and unchanged.
Related instruments
Projects or designs named by the source
- None. Location in this jurisdiction does not make a project eligible for, or approved under, this measure.
Sources
- Kentucky Revised Statutes 164.2805 (government_primary, accessed 2026-10-04)