Sec. 306. Advanced nuclear fuel security program
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Congress finds that— the national security nuclear enterprise, which supports the nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship and reactors functions of the National Nuclear Security Administration, requires a domestic fuel cycle, including uranium mining, uranium processing, uranium enrichment, and fuel fabrication, capable of producing low- and high-enriched uranium; many domestic advanced nuclear power industry participants require access to high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel for— initial fuel testing; operation of demonstration reactors; and commercial operation of advanced nuclear reactors; as of the date of enactment of this Act, no domestic uranium enrichment or fuel fabrication capability exists for uranium fuel enriched to greater than 10 weight percent of the uranium-235 isotope; a healthy commercial nuclear fuel cycle capable of providing higher levels of enriched uranium would benefit— the relevant national security functions of the National Nuclear Security Administration; and the domestic advanced nuclear industry of the United States; and making limited quantities of high-assay, low-enriched uranium available from Department stockpiles of uranium would allow for initial fuel testing and demonstration of advanced nuclear reactor concepts, accelerating— the path to market of those concepts; and the development of— a market for advanced nuclear reactors; and a resulting growing commercial nuclear fuel cycle capability.
Subtitle E of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a program (in this section known as the Program ) to make available high-assay, low-enriched uranium, through contracts for sale, resale, transfer, or lease, for use in advanced nuclear reactors. Each contract under paragraph
(1)shall include a provision that— requires that any high-assay, low-enriched uranium sold, resold, transferred, or leased under such contract shall remain the property of the Secretary; and the Secretary shall be responsible for the final disposition of all radioactive waste created by the irradiation, processing, or purification of any such uranium. In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall make available— by December 31, 2022, high-assay, low-enriched uranium containing not less than 2 metric tons of the uranium-235 isotope; and by December 31, 2025, high-assay, low-enriched uranium containing not less than 10 metric tons of the uranium-235 isotope, which shall include the quantities of the uranium-235 isotope required to be made available under subparagraph (A). In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall take into consideration options for providing high-assay, low-enriched uranium from the stockpile of uranium owned by the Department (including the National Nuclear Security Administration), including by providing from among such stockpile— fuel that— directly meets the needs of an end-user; and has been previously used or fabricated for another purpose; fuel that can meet the needs of an end-user after removing radioactive contaminants or other contaminants that resulted from a previous use or fabrication of the fuel for research, development, demonstration, or deployment activities of the Department (including activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration); and fuel from a high-enriched uranium stockpile, which can be blended with lower-assay uranium to become high-assay, low-enriched uranium that may be used in an advanced nuclear reactor. The Secretary shall not barter or otherwise sell, resell, or transfer uranium in any form in exchange for services relating to the final disposition of radioactive waste from uranium that is the subject of a sale, lease, release, or transfer under this section. The Program shall terminate on the earlier of— January 1, 2035; or the date on which uranium enriched up to, but not equal to, 20 weight percent can be obtained in the commercial market from domestic suppliers, as determined by the Secretary. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that— describes the actions the Secretary proposes to carry out under the Program; and includes— the estimates under paragraph (3); and the evaluations under paragraph (4). In developing the report required under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall seek input from— the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the National Laboratories; institutions of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001(a) )); a diverse group of entities operating in the nuclear energy industry; and a diverse group of technology developers. The report required under paragraph
(1)shall include estimated costs, budgets, and timeframes for enabling the use of high-assay, low-enriched uranium. The report required under paragraph
(1)shall evaluate— the costs of the actions required to establish and carry out the Program, including with respect to— proposed preliminary terms for the sale, resale, transfer, and leasing of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (including guidelines defining the roles and responsibilities of the Department and the purchaser, transfer recipient, or lessee); and the potential to coordinate with purchasers, transfer recipients, and lessees regarding— fuel fabrication; and fuel transportation; the potential sources of uranium and fuel forms available to carry out the Program; options to coordinate carrying out the Program with the operation of the versatile reactor-based fast neuron source, which is required to be established under section 955(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 16275(c) ); the ability of the domestic uranium market to provide materials for advanced nuclear reactor fuel; and any associated legal, regulatory, and policy issues that should be addressed to— carry out the Program; and enable the establishment of a domestic industry capable of providing high-assay, low-enriched uranium for commercial and noncommercial purposes, including with respect to the needs of— the Department; the Secretary of Defense; and the under Secretary of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In this section: The term high-assay, low-enriched uranium means uranium that is enriched with the uranium-235 isotope in an assay weight that is greater than 5 percent, but less than 20 percent. The term high-enriched uranium means uranium that is enriched with the uranium-235 isotope in an assay weight of 20 percent or more. . The table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( Public Law 109–58 ; 119 Stat. 594) is amended— in the item relating to section 957, by inserting Sec. before 957 ; in the item relating to section 958, by inserting Sec. before 958 ; in the item relating to section 959, by inserting Sec. before 959 ; and by adding after the item relating to section 959 (as amended by this paragraph) the following: Sec. 959A. Advanced nuclear fuel security program. .
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- Pub. L. 109-58
- 119 Stat. 594
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Sec. 306
Advanced nuclear fuel security program
Pub. L.Pub. L. 109-58
Stat.119 Stat. 594
Cites 5Cited by 0 across 0 sources