This bill creates a new statutory study called the "commercial liftoff for energy from advanced nuclear" and directs the joint legislative audit and review committee (JLARC) to contract with a third party to conduct it. The study must assess the benefits of nuclear energy and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs), include recommendations to maximize those benefits including workforce development and job creation, and examine the feasibility and benefits of replacing a coal-fired electric generation facility described in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c) with a nuclear power plant. JLARC must report the study results to the appropriate legislative committees by July 1, 2027. The act also requires the joint committee on energy supply, energy conservation, and energy resilience to convene to review JLARC’s report before December 1, 2027, and to provide an opportunity for public comment at that meeting. The bill is implemented as new statutory sections (Sec. 1–3). It is a procedural change establishing a mandated study, contracting and reporting requirements, and a required legislative review meeting; it does not create a new crime or change penalties. The bill text includes a finding that all electricity provided to Washington retail electric customers must be from nonemitting or renewable resources by January 1, 2045, but the extracted facts do not indicate whether that finding amends any existing law. Important details are missing from the provided text: the exact description of the coal-fired facility in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c) is not shown; the specific "appropriate committees" are not named; and the bill does not specify how JLARC must select or contract with the third-party contractor, contractor qualifications, study funding, the study’s full scope, or the membership and procedures of the joint committee. It is also unclear whether other sections or provisions exist elsewhere in the bill.

If enacted, the bill would require the legislative audit committee (JLARC) to hire an outside contractor to analyze the benefits and deployment of small modular nuclear reactors, workforce and job impacts, and the feasibility of replacing a specific coal-fired plant referenced in state law, and deliver a report by July 1, 2027; a joint legislative energy committee must then meet before December 1, 2027 to review the report and take public comment. Practically this means JLARC will incur contracting and staff costs and will have a new, time‑bound project to manage; an outside consultant will gain the contract work; and the energy committee will need to schedule and run additional review hearings. The most directly affected parties are JLARC (new contracting and reporting responsibilities), third‑party contractors (potential work and payment), the joint committee on energy supply, energy conservation, and energy resilience (obligation to review and host public comment), and entities connected to the coal plant cited in RCW 80.80.040(3)(c), which may face increased scrutiny if replacement with nuclear is found feasible. The bill does not itself change electricity rules or funding for projects, and important details—such as which legislative panels are the “appropriate committees,” how the contractor will be selected or paid, and the exact description of the referenced coal facility—are not provided in the extracted text.