[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 512 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 512

  To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of 
Energy to carry out programs to develop and demonstrate 2 small modular 
            nuclear reactor designs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2011

 Mr. Bingaman (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. 
Pryor, and Ms. Landrieu) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of 
Energy to carry out programs to develop and demonstrate 2 small modular 
            nuclear reactor designs, 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 ``Nuclear Power 2021 Act''.

SEC. 2. NUCLEAR POWER 2021 INITIATIVE.

    Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16272) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Nuclear Power 2021 Initiative.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Combined license.--The term `combined 
                license' has the meaning given the term in section 52.1 
                of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or a 
                successor regulation).
                    ``(B) Design certification.--The term `design 
                certification' has the meaning given the term in 
                section 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 
                (or a successor regulation).
                    ``(C) Small modular reactor.--The term `small 
                modular reactor' means a nuclear reactor--
                            ``(i) with a rated capacity of less than 
                        300 electrical megawatts; and
                            ``(ii) that can be constructed and operated 
                        in combination with similar reactors at a 
                        single site.
            ``(2) Duty of secretary.--The Secretary shall carry out, 
        through cooperative agreements with private sector partners--
                    ``(A) a program--
                            ``(i) to develop a standard design for each 
                        of 2 small modular reactors, at least 1 of 
                        which has a rated capacity of not more than 50 
                        electrical megawatts; and
                            ``(ii) to obtain a design certification 
                        from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for each 
                        of the 2 standard designs by January 1, 2018; 
                        and
                    ``(B) a program to demonstrate the licensing of 
                small modular reactors by--
                            ``(i) developing applications for a 
                        combined license for each of the designs 
                        certified pursuant to subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) obtaining a combined license from 
                        the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for each of 
                        the designs by January 1, 2021.
            ``(3) Merit review of proposals.--The Secretary shall 
        select proposals for cooperative agreements under this 
        subsection--
                    ``(A) on the basis of an impartial review of the 
                scientific and technical merit of the proposals; and
                    ``(B) through the use of competitive procedures.
            ``(4) Technical considerations.--In evaluating proposals, 
        the Secretary shall take into account the efficiency, cost, 
        safety, and proliferation resistance of competing reactor 
        designs.
            ``(5) Cost-share requirements.--
                    ``(A) Design development.--Notwithstanding section 
                988, the Secretary shall require that not less than 50 
                percent of the cost of the development of each small 
                modular reactor design under paragraph (2)(A) be 
                provided by a non-Federal source.
                    ``(B) Licensing demonstration.--Notwithstanding 
                section 988, the Secretary shall require that not less 
                than 75 percent of the cost of the licensing 
                demonstration of each small modular reactor design 
                under paragraph (2)(B) be provided by a non-Federal 
                source.
                    ``(C) Calculation of amount.--Non-Federal 
                contributions under this subsection shall be calculated 
                in accordance with section 988(d).''.
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