Nuclear Energy Institute

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is a nuclear industry lobbying group in the United States of America, based in Washington, D.C.

According to its website, the NEI "develops policy on key legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry. NEI then serves as a unified industry voice before the U.S. Congress, executive branch agencies and federal regulators, as well as international organizations and venues. NEI also provides a forum to resolve technical and business issues for the industry. Finally, NEI provides accurate and timely information on the nuclear industry to members, policymakers, the news media and the public." In practice, this takes the form of representing the nuclear industry's interests before Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as serving as an industry think tank in order to influence public policy.

The nuclear energy industry that NEI represents and serves includes: Commercial electricity generation; Nuclear medicine including diagnostics and therapy; Food processing and agricultural applications; Industrial and manufacturing applications; Uranium mining and processing; Nuclear fuel and radioactive materials manufacturing; Transportation of radioactive materials; and Nuclear waste management

NEI is governed by a 47-member board of directors. The board includes representatives from the nation's 27 nuclear utilities, plant designers, architect/engineering firms and fuel cycle companies. Eighteen members of the board serve on the executive committee, which is responsible for NEI's business and policy affairs.

The Institute was founded in 1994 from the merger of several nuclear energy industry organizations, the oldest of which was created in 1953. Specifically, in 1994, NEI was formed from the merger of the Nuclear Utility Management and Resources Council (NUMARC), which addressed generic regulatory and technical issues; the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness (USCEA), which conducted a national communications program; the American Nuclear Energy Council (ANEC), which conducted government affairs; and the nuclear division of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which handled issues involving used nuclear fuel management, nuclear fuel supply, and the economics of nuclear energy. In 1987, NUMARC and USCEA were created through a division of the Atomic Industrial Forum (AIF). USCEA was originally founded in 1979 as the U.S. Committee for Energy Awareness. AIF was created in 1953 to focus on the beneficial uses of nuclear energy. This was two years before the international “Atoms for Peace” conference held in Geneva in 1955, marking the dawn of the nuclear age.

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