1.This Act may be cited as
the Thorium Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2008
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)the United States
and foreign countries will require massive and increasing quantities of energy
during the 20-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act to
support economic growth;
(2)nuclear power
provides energy without generating unacceptable quantities of greenhouse
gasses;
(3)the generation of
nuclear power in the United States and many foreign countries has been
discouraged by concerns regarding—
(A)the proliferation
of weapons-useable material; and
(B)the proper
disposal of spent nuclear fuel;
(4)nuclear power
plants operating on an advanced thorium fuel cycle to generate nuclear
energy—
(A)could potentially
produce fewer weapons-useable materials than uranium-fueled plants; and
(B)would produce
less long-term waste as compared to other nuclear power plants;
(5)(A)thorium is more
abundant than uranium; and
(B)the United States possesses
significant domestic quantities of thorium to ensure energy
independence;
(6)(A)thorium fuel cycle
technology was originally developed in the United States; and
(B)cutting-edge research relating to
thorium fuel cycle technology continues to be carried out by entities in the
United States; and
(7)it is in the
national security and foreign policy interest of the United States that foreign
countries seeking to establish or expand generation and use of nuclear power
should be provided—
(A)access to
advanced thorium fuel cycle technology; and
(B)incentives to
reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.
3.Thorium fuel
cycle nuclear power generationChapter 19 of title I of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2015 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 244
the following:
251.Thorium fuel
cycle nuclear power generation
(a)In
this section:
(1)The
term Chairman means the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
(2)The
term Office means an office established under subsection
(b)(1).
(3)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.
(b)Offices for
regulation of thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation
(1)The
Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, shall establish, and provide
funds to, an office for the regulation of thorium fuel cycle nuclear power
generation in each of—
(A)the Office of
Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology of the Department of Energy; and
(B)the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
(2)Not
later than December 31, 2012, the Chairman, in cooperation with the heads of
the Offices, shall promulgate regulations for facilities and materials used in
thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation.
(3)The heads of the Offices, in cooperation with the head
of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, shall carry out demonstration
projects for thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation at the Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory.
(4)International
partnerships and incentivesThe heads of the Offices shall
provide recommendations to the Secretary with respect to methods of—
(A)strengthening
international partnerships to advance nuclear nonproliferation through the
design and deployment of thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation;
and
(B)providing
incentives to nuclear reactor operators in the United States and foreign
countries to use proliferation-resistant, low-waste thorium fuels in lieu of
other fuels.
(c)Not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2008, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report describing, with respect to the preceding calendar
year—
(1)progress made in
implementing this section; and
(2)activities
carried out by the Offices pursuant to this section.
(d)Authorization
of appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary to carry out this section $250,000,000 for the period of fiscal years
2009 through
2013.
.