Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Nuclear Used Fuel Prize Act of 2008

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Administering Entity

The term administering entity means the entity with which the Secretary enters into an agreement under section 4(c). (2)

Department

The term Department means the Department of Energy. (3)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)The rising cost of energy has become a hindrance to American economic progress. (2)High and rising energy costs have become a burden upon the American family. (3)Nuclear energy can be a safe, efficient, clean, and affordable source of renewable energy and should be considered as part of the solution for long-term American energy independence. (4)Used nuclear fuel is and has been safely stored on nuclear energy electricity producing reactor sites for many years. (5)Those sites were originally not designed or built for such storage. (6)By 2015 it is estimated that the United States will maintain 70,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. (7)The country’s electricity needs are best served by allowing new nuclear reactors to be built, in many cases on existing reactor sites. (8)Removal of the used nuclear fuel from those sites can be safely done and would lead to more efficient management of used fuel, and lower costs. (9)Development of alternatives to current storage facilities, including the Yucca Mountain long-term storage facility, would also allow used nuclear fuel from decommissioned reactor sites to be moved and final clean up of those sites to take place. (10)Citizens and communities in the United States interested in developing alternatives to current storage proposals, including the high-level Yucca Mountain storage facility, should be provided the incentive to move forward with these designs and plans. (11)Prize legislation has been a successful method used by the United States Government to solve some of our country’s most difficult problems, from space travel to vehicles with super efficiency. (12)There is merit in and need for establishing a program of prize incentives to develop used nuclear fuel management plans.

Prize authority

(a)

In general

The Secretary shall carry out a program to competitively award cash prizes in conformity with this Act to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of nuclear used fuel storage. (b)

Advertising and solicitation of competitors

(1)

Advertising

The Secretary shall widely advertise prize competitions to encourage broad participation in the program carried out under subsection (a), including individuals, universities, communities, and large and small businesses. (2)

Announcement Through Federal Register Notice

The Secretary shall announce each prize competition by publishing a notice in the Federal Register. This notice shall include essential elements of the competition such as the subject of the competition, the duration of the competition, the eligibility requirements for participation in the competition, the process for participants to register for the competition, the amount of the prize, and the criteria for awarding the prize. (c)

Administering the competition

The Secretary may enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer the prize competitions, subject to the provisions of this Act. The administering entity shall perform the following functions: (1)Advertise the competition and its results. (2)Raise funds from private entities and individuals to pay for administrative costs and cash prizes. (3)Develop, in consultation with and subject to the final approval of the Secretary, criteria to select winners based upon the goal of safely and adequately storing nuclear used fuel. (4)Determine, in consultation with and subject to the final approval of the Secretary, the appropriate amount of the awards. (5)Protect against the administering entity’s unauthorized use or disclosure of a registered participant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, and confidential business information. Any information properly identified as trade secrets or confidential business information that is submitted by a participant as part of a competitive program under this Act may be withheld from public disclosure. (6)Develop and promulgate sufficient rules to define the parameters of designing and proposing safe and secure nuclear energy used fuel storage with input from industry, citizens, and corporations familiar with such activities. (d)

Funding sources

Prizes under this Act may consist of Federal appropriated funds, funds provided by the administering entity, or funds raised through grants or donations. The Secretary may accept funds from other Federal agencies for such cash prizes and, notwithstanding section 3302(b) of title 31, United States Code, may use such funds for the cash prize program. Other than publication of the names of prize sponsors, the Secretary may not give any special consideration to any private sector entity or individual in return for a donation to the Secretary or administering entity. (e)

Announcement of prizes

The Secretary may not publish a notice required by subsection (b)(2) until all the funds needed to pay out the announced amount of the prize have been appropriated to the Department or the Department has received from the administering entity a written commitment to provide all necessary funds.

Eligibility

To be eligible to win a prize under this Act, an individual or entity— (1)shall notify the administering entity of intent to submit ideas and intent to collect the prize upon selection; (2)shall comply with all the requirements stated in the Federal Register notice required under section 4(b)(2); (3)in the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen of the United States; (4)shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal employee acting within the scope of his or her employment, or an employee of a national laboratory acting within the scope of employment; (5)shall not use Federal funding or other Federal resources to compete for the prize; (6)shall not be an entity acting on behalf of any foreign government or agent acting on behalf of a current federally filed proposal for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility or repository; and (7)shall present a proposal to the administering entity to remove used nuclear fuel for such period of time as shall be necessary prior to the development of advanced fuel cycle facilities and a final repository for used fuel waste as may be ultimately in need of disposal.

Intellectual property

The Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offering or awarding a prize under this Act, be entitled to any intellectual property rights derived as a consequence of, or in direct relation to, the participation by a registered participant in a competition authorized by this Act. This section shall not be construed to prevent the Federal Government from negotiating a license for the use of intellectual property developed for a prize competition under this Act. The Federal Government may seek assurances that technologies for which prizes are awarded under this Act are offered for commercialization in the event an award recipient does not take, or is not expected to take within a reasonable time, effective steps to achieve practical application of the technology.

Waiver of liability

The Secretary may require registered participants to waive claims against the Federal Government and the administering entity (except claims for willful misconduct) for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits arising from the registered participants’ participation in a competition under this Act. The Secretary shall give notice of any waiver required under this section in the notice required by section 4(b)(2). The Secretary may not require a registered participant to waive claims against the administering entity arising out of the unauthorized use or disclosure by the administering entity of the registered participant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, or confidential business information.

Authorization of Appropriations

(a)

Awards

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the period encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2020 for carrying out this Act— (1)$10,000,000 each for two awards, and Federal contracting opportunities; and (2)$2,000,000 for two additional awards to support continued actions to develop the successful entities. (b)

Treatment of awards

Amounts received pursuant to an award under this Act may not be taxed by any Federal, State, or local authority. (c)

Administration

In addition to the amounts authorized under subsection (a), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2020 $2,000,000 for the administrative costs of carrying out this Act. (d)

Carryover of Funds

Funds appropriated for prize awards under this Act shall remain available until expended and may be transferred, reprogrammed, or expended for other purposes only after the expiration of 11 fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were originally appropriated. No provision in this Act permits obligation or payment of funds in violation of section 1341 of title 31, United States Code.