[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 763 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 763

  To provide for the disposition of United States Government uranium 
                              inventories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2003

  Mrs. Cubin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the disposition of United States Government uranium 
                              inventories.

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

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT.

    Section 3112 of the USEC Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h-10) is 
amended by striking subsections (d) and (e) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(d)(1)(A) The aggregate annual deliveries of uranium in any form 
(including natural uranium concentrates, natural uranium hexafluoride, 
enriched uranium, and depleted uranium) sold or transferred by the 
United States Government shall not exceed 3,000,000 pounds 
U<INF>3</INF>O<INF>8</INF> equivalent per year through calendar year 
2009. Such aggregate annual deliveries shall not exceed 5,000,000 
pounds U<INF>3</INF>O<INF>8</INF> equivalent per year in calendar years 
2010 and 2011. Such aggregate annual deliveries shall not exceed 
7,000,000 pounds U<INF>3</INF>O<INF>8</INF> equivalent in calendar year 
2012. Such aggregate annual deliveries shall not exceed 10,000,000 
pounds U<INF>3</INF>O<INF>8</INF> equivalent per year in calendar year 
2013 and each year thereafter. Any sales or transfers by the United 
States Government shall be limited to long-term contracts with end 
users of no less than 3 years duration.
    ``(B) Sales or transfers of uranium by the United States Government 
for the following purposes are exempt from the provisions of this 
subsection:
            ``(i) Sales or transfers provided for under existing law 
        for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority in relation to the 
        Department of Energy's high-enriched uranium or tritium 
        programs.
            ``(ii) Sales or transfers to the Department of Energy 
        research reactor sales program.
            ``(iii) The transfer of any natural uranium to the United 
        States Enrichment Corporation to replace contaminated uranium 
        received from the Department of Energy when the United States 
        Enrichment Corporation was privatized in July 1998.
            ``(iv) The sale or transfer of any natural uranium for 
        emergency purposes in the event of a disruption in supply to 
        end users in the United States.
            ``(v) The sale or transfer of any natural uranium in 
        fulfillment of the United States Government's obligations to 
        provide security of supply with respect to implementation of 
        the Russian HEU Agreement.
            ``(vi) The sale or transfer of any enriched uranium for use 
        in a Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, a Gas Turbine Modular Helium 
        Reactor, a High Temperature Gas Reactor, or any other advanced 
        commercial nuclear power plant in the United States with 
        nonstandard fuel requirements.
    ``(C) The Secretary may transfer or sell enriched uranium to any 
person for national security purposes, as determined by the Secretary.
    ``(2) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), and in 
paragraph (1)(B) and (C) of this subsection, no sale or transfer of 
uranium in any form shall be made by the United States Government 
unless--
            ``(A) the President determines that the material is not 
        necessary for national security needs;
            ``(B) the price paid to the Secretary will not be less than 
        the fair market value of the material, as determined at the 
        time that such material is contracted for sale;
            ``(C) prior to any sale or transfer, the Secretary solicits 
        the written views of the Department of State and the National 
        Security Council with regard to whether such sale or transfer 
        would have any adverse effect on national security interests of 
        the United States, including interests related to the 
        implementation of the Russian HEU Agreement; and
            ``(D) neither the Department of State or the National 
        Security Council objects to such sale or transfer.
The Secretary shall endeavor to determine whether a sale or transfer is 
permitted under this paragraph within 30 days. The Secretary's 
determinations pursuant to this paragraph shall be made available to 
interested members of the public prior to authorizing any such sale or 
transfer.
    ``(3) Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection 
and annually thereafter the Secretary shall undertake an assessment for 
the purpose of reviewing available excess Government uranium 
inventories, and determining, consistent with the procedures and 
limitations established in this subsection, the level of inventory to 
be sold or transferred to end users.
    ``(4) Within 5 years after the date of enactment of this subsection 
and biennially thereafter the Secretary shall report to the Congress on 
the implementation of this subsection. The report shall include a 
discussion of all sales or transfers made by the United States 
Government, the impact of such sales or transfers on the domestic 
uranium industry, the spot market uranium price, and the national 
security interests of the United States, and any steps taken to 
remediate any adverse impacts of such sales or transfers.
    ``(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term `United States 
Government' does not include the Tennessee Valley Authority.''.
                                 <all>