Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner helps clients in the nuclear sector seize opportunities while keeping regulatory risk to a minimum.  

We have a strong track record in this sector, with experience of giving advice in a wide range of nuclear projects, from financing to construction, development, operational matters and decommissioning. We have also assisted clients with uranium mining permits and the development of methodologies and regulatory frameworks for long-term waste management. 

The regulatory environment for nuclear projects is particularly complex, making it difficult for clients to plan and allocate resources efficiently. Our extensive experience ensures that clients understand and reduce risk on these capital intensive, high value, long-term projects that often require years of construction prior to commercial operation.  

Our nuclear team includes lawyers who previously worked in areas such as construction and  chemical process engineering, helping to give us a broad view of the issues, challenges and opportunities in this field.  

We understand that nuclear projects touch on many different areas of law, from planning and property issues to construction, supply chain, environmental and safety regulatory issues, federal and state subsidies in the U.S., intellectual property and corporate structuring. We also keep close track of new developments, such as research into and development of small, less capital intensive nuclear power plant technology in the U.S. supported by the Department of Energy (DOE). Our multidisciplinary team has the flexibility required to give an in-depth, well-informed service to client businesses of all sizes. 

BCLP has worked with clients across the broad spectrum of the energy sector, including fossil fuels and those in the renewable energy industries. We understand the commercial and regulatory environment in the energy sector both nationally and internationally.  

In the UK, BCLP’s nuclear group is involved in the decommissioning arena and has acted for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) for many years and we assisted them in navigating the transformation of the decommissioning industry under the 2004 Energy Act. In the U.S., our lawyers have experience advising clients with respect to the rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the safe construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act, and loans and grants available from DOE for nuclear power projects.