[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2162 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2162

  To renew the authority of the Department of Energy to indemnify its 
  contractors and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to indemnify its 
 licensees for damages resulting from nuclear incidents; to amend the 
   Department of Energy's authority to impose civil penalties on its 
             nonprofit contractors; and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2000

 Mr. Bingaman (for himself and Mr. Murkowski) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To renew the authority of the Department of Energy to indemnify its 
  contractors and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to indemnify its 
 licensees for damages resulting from nuclear incidents; to amend the 
   Department of Energy's authority to impose civil penalties on its 
             nonprofit contractors; and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. INDEMNIFICATION AUTHORITY.

    (a) Indemnification of NRC Licensees.--Section 170 c. of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(c)) is amended by striking ``August 
1, 2002'' each place it appears and inserting ``August 1, 2012''.
    (b) Indemnification of DOE Contractors.--Section 170 d.(1)(A) of 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)(1)(A)) is amended by 
striking ``, until August 1, 2002,''.
    (c) Indemnification of Nonprofit Educational Institutions.--Section 
170 k. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(k)) is amended 
by striking ``August 1, 2002'' each place it appears and inserting 
``August 1, 2012''.

SEC. 3. MAXIMUM ASSESSMENT.

    Section 170 b.(1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 
2210(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``$10,000,000'' and inserting 
``$20,000,000''.

SEC. 4. DOE LIABILITY LIMIT.

    (a) Aggregate Liability Limit.--Section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy 
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is amended by striking subsection (2) 
and inserting the following:
            ``(2) In agreements of indemnification entered into under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary--
                    ``(A) may require the contractor to provide and 
                maintain financial protection of such a type and in 
                such amounts as the Secretary shall determine to be 
                appropriate to cover public liability arising out of or 
                in connection with the contractual activity, and
                    ``(B) shall indemnify the persons indemnified 
                against such claims above the amount of the financial 
                protection required, in the amount of $10,000,000,000 
                (subject to adjustment for inflation under subsection 
                t.), in the aggregate, for all persons indemnified in 
                connection with such contract and for each nuclear 
                incident, including such legal costs of the contractor 
                as are approved by the Secretary.
    (b) Contract Amendments.--Section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act 
of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is further amended by striking subsection 
(3) and inserting the following:
            ``(3) All agreements of indemnification under which the 
        Department of Energy (or its precedessor agencies) may be 
        required to indemnify any person, shall be deemed to be 
        amended, on the date of the enactment of the Price-Anderson 
        Amendments Act of 1999, to reflect the amount of indemnity for 
        public liability and any applicable financial protection 
        required of the contractor under this subsection on such 
        date.''.

SEC. 5. INCIDENTS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Amount of Indemnification.--Section 170 d.(5) of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)(5)) is amended by striking 
``$100,000,000'' and inserting ``$500,000,000''.
    (b) Liability Limit.--Section 170e.(4) of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(4)) is amended by striking ``$100,000,000'' and 
inserting ``$500,000,000''.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    Section 170 p. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(p)) 
is amended by striking ``August 1, 1998'' and inserting ``August 1, 
2008''.

SEC. 7. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.

    Section 170 t. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(t)) 
is amended--
            (1) by renumbering paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
            (2) by adding after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(2) The Secretary shall adjust the amount of 
        indemnification provided under an agreement of indemnification 
        under subsection d. not less than once during each 5-year 
        period following the date of the enactment of the Price-
        Anderson Amendments Act of 1999, in accordance with the 
        aggregate percentage change in the Consumer Price Index since--
                    ``(A) such date of enactment, in the case of the 
                first adjustment under this subsection; or
                    ``(B) the previous adjustment under this 
                subsection.''.

SEC. 8. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    (a) Repeal of Automatic Remission.--Section 234A b.(2) of the 
Atomic Energy of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2282a(b)(2)) is amended by striking 
the last sentence.
    (b) Limitation for Nonprofit Institutions.--Section 234A of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2282a) is further amended by 
striking subsection d. and inserting the following:
    ``d. Notwithstanding subsection a., no contractor, subcontractor, 
or supplier considered to be nonprofit under the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1954 shall be subject to a civil penalty under this section in 
excess of the amount of any performance fee paid by the Secretary to 
such contractor, subcontractor, or supplier under the contract under 
which the violation or violations; occur.''.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall become 
effective on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Indemnification Provisions.--The amendments made by sections 3, 
4, and 5 shall not apply to any nuclear incident occurring before the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Civil Penalty Provisions.--The amendments made by section 8 to 
section 234A of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2282a(b)(2)) 
shall not apply to any violation occurring under a contract entered 
into before the date of the enactment of this Act.
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