[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1760 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1760
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a program
to support the availability of HA-LEU for domestic commercial use, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2019
Mr. Flores (for himself and Mr. McNerney) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry out a program
to support the availability of HA-LEU for domestic commercial use, 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 ``Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability
Act''.
SEC. 2. PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish and carry out,
through the Office of Nuclear Energy, a program to support the
availability of HA-LEU for domestic commercial use.
(b) Program Elements.--In carrying out the program under subsection
(a), the Secretary--
(1) may provide financial assistance to assist commercial
entities to design and license transportation packages for HA-
LEU, including canisters for metal, gas, and other HA-LEU
compositions;
(2) shall, to the extent practicable--
(A) by January 1, 2022, have commercial entities
submit such transportation package designs to the
Commission for certification by the Commission under
part 71 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations; and
(B) encourage the Commission to have such
transportation package designs so certified by the
Commission by January 1, 2024;
(3) not later than January 1, 2021, shall submit to
Congress a report on the Department's uranium inventory that
may be available to be processed to HA-LEU for purposes of such
program, which may not include any uranium allocated by the
Secretary for use in support of the atomic energy defense
activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration;
(4) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, and biennially thereafter through September 30, 2026,
shall conduct a survey of stakeholders to estimate the quantity
of HA-LEU necessary for domestic commercial use for each of the
5 subsequent years;
(5) shall assess options available for the Secretary to
acquire HA-LEU for such program, including an assessment, for
each such option, of the cost and amount of time required;
(6) shall establish a consortium, which may include
entities involved in any stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, to
partner with the Department to support the availability of HA-
LEU for domestic commercial use, including by--
(A) providing information to the Secretary for
purposes of surveys conducted under paragraph (4); and
(B) purchasing HA-LEU made available to members of
the consortium by the Secretary under the program;
(7) shall, prior to acquiring HA-LEU under paragraph (8),
in coordination with the consortium established pursuant to
paragraph (6), develop a schedule for cost recovery of HA-LEU
made available to members of the consortium pursuant to
paragraph (8);
(8) may, beginning not later than 3 years after the
establishment of a consortium under paragraph (6), acquire HA-
LEU, in order, to the extent practicable, to make such HA-LEU
available to members of the consortium beginning not later than
January 1, 2026, in amounts that are consistent, to the extent
practicable, with the quantities estimated under the surveys
conducted under paragraph (4); and
(9) shall develop, in consultation with the Commission,
criticality benchmark data to assist the Commission in--
(A) the licensing and regulation of category II
spent nuclear material fuel fabrication and enrichment
facilities under part 70 of title 10, Code of Federal
Regulations; and
(B) certification of transportation packages under
part 71 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations.
(c) Applicability of USEC Privatization Act.--The requirements of
subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 3112(d)(2) of the USEC
Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h-10(d)(2)) shall apply to a sale or
transfer of HA-LEU by the Secretary to a member of the consortium under
this section.
(d) Funding.--
(1) Transportation package design.--
(A) Cost share.--The Secretary shall ensure that
not less than 20 percent of the costs of design and
license activities carried out pursuant to subsection
(b)(1) are paid by a non-Federal entity.
(B) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection
(b)(1)--
(i) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2020;
(ii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
(iii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(2) DOE acquisition of ha-leu.--The Secretary may not make
commitments under this section (including cooperative
agreements (used in accordance with section 6305 of title 31,
United States Code), purchase agreements, guarantees, leases,
service contracts, or any other type of commitment) for the
purchase or other acquisition of HA-LEU unless funds are
specifically provided for such purposes in advance in
subsequent appropriations Acts, and only to the extent that the
full extent of anticipated costs stemming from such commitments
is recorded as an obligation up front and in full at the time
it is made.
(3) Other costs.--Except as otherwise provided in this
subsection, in carrying out this section, the Secretary shall
use amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary.
(e) Sunset.--The authority of the Secretary to carry out the
program under this section shall expire on September 30, 2034.
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall submit to Congress a report that includes--
(1) identification of updates to regulations,
certifications, and other regulatory policies that the
Commission determines are necessary in order for HA-LEU to be
commercially available, including--
(A) guidance for material control and
accountability of category II special nuclear material;
(B) certifications relating to transportation
packaging for HA-LEU; and
(C) licensing of enrichment, conversion, and fuel
fabrication facilities for HA-LEU, and associated
physical security plans for such facilities;
(2) a description of such updates; and
(3) a timeline to complete such updates.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means Department
of Energy.
(3) HA-LEU.--The term ``HA-LEU'' means high-assay low-
enriched uranium.
(4) High-assay low-enriched uranium.--The term ``high-assay
low-enriched uranium'' means uranium having an assay greater
than 5.0 percent and less than 20.0 percent enrichment of the
uranium-235 isotope.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
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