Nuclear Energy Trends 2025: Legal and Regulatory Developments; Government-Backed Indemnity; Co-Location Considerations

Ms. Hammond has been practicing nuclear energy law for nearly 10 years at both Pillsbury and the Department of Energy (DOE). She recently returned to Pillsbury from the DOE, where she advised on over $2.9 billion in nuclear loans and awards within the past three years. As the lead nuclear regulatory counsel for DOE’s Loans Program Office, Ms. Hammond advised the Department on the $1.52 billion loan guarantee for the first-of-a-kind restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station. She was also nuclear regulatory counsel for the DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program’s $1.1 billion award to Diablo Canyon Power Plant, including extensive advice on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) issues. Ms. Hammond also co-led the development of a groundbreaking $300 million Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program award for Kairos Power at the DOE.

Mr. Lookadoo is a partner in the Energy Practice Group of Haynes Boone. His practice addresses energy transactions and regulatory compliance in oil, natural gas, power and renewables, commodity trading and derivatives (hedging versus spec trades), mergers and acquisitions, and project development (including project O&M, PPA, project financing and grid interconnections). In addition to negotiating hundreds of contracts for energy transactions using standardized master agreements, bespoke bilateral agreements and various forms of credit support (including lien-secured trades), Mr. Lookadoo also addresses the regulatory compliance requirements for those transactions under Federal, State and International laws, including the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (oil, natural gas and power), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Dodd-Frank Act regulations affecting futures, swaps, hedging, and exempt physically-settled forward transactions), the US Environmental Protection Agency (renewable fuel standards and RINs), and numerous State laws (such as the various California Air Resources Board programs) enacted to address various credits for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and other environmental attributes. His practice includes working with battery energy storage systems (BESS), voluntary carbon credit offset projects and offset credit registries, as well as analyses of electric vehicle (EV) related provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Ms. Noëlliste focuses her practice on advising clients on a wide range of complex environmental and energy matters, including regulatory compliance, enforcement actions, and rulemaking challenges. She is a member of the Environmental, Health, and Safety practice which is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA 2024 and designated as “Environmental Practice Group of the Year” by Law360.

Ms. Noëlliste has experience engaging with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and state regulators to obtain approvals of changes of control of radioactive material, export, and exempt distribution licenses regarding radioactive substances, as well as counseling clients about obligations under those licenses. Nicole also advises clients regularly on reactor licensing, joint ventures between facilities and advanced reactor companies, decommissioning and license termination, storage and disposal of nuclear materials, and regulatory counseling.

She gained broad knowledge of the NRC regulatory process during her tenure as an Honors Attorney in the NRC’s Office of the General Counsel. Additionally, Ms. Noëlliste counseled the agency staff on the development of the NRC’s first Tribal Policy Statement, and reviewed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses of NRC permitting decisions.

During law school, she served as a law clerk at the Environmental Law Institute, an Honors Law Clerk at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Office of General Counsel, and a law clerk within the Natural Resources Section at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division.