Civil Nuclear Export Act of 2026

This bill significantly expands the Export-Import Bank's (EXIM) capacity to support civil nuclear energy exports, aiming to enhance U.S. competitiveness in the global market. It modifies the existing prohibition on financing nuclear facilities, specifically allowing EXIM to finance purchases related to nuclear reprocessing facilities if they comply with specific international agreements or other applicable U.S. law, thereby lifting a previous blanket restriction. A key provision integrates civil nuclear energy technologies, materials, services, and related infrastructure into EXIM's Program on China and Transformational Exports , explicitly adding this sector to the program's focus. To facilitate this strategic expansion, the bill modifies EXIM's general lending cap, allowing for an additional $50 billion in loans, guarantees, and insurance specifically for projects under this transformational exports program. This additional capacity can be attributed to past or future transactions within the program, providing flexibility. Furthermore, the legislation adjusts the monitoring of EXIM's default rates to provide greater flexibility for these strategic investments, raising the threshold for certain default rate calculations from 2 percent to 4 percent. Additionally, it grants EXIM's Board of Directors the authority to exclude financing from the Program on China and Transformational Exports from these calculations if they cause the overall default rate to exceed 4 percent.