116 HR 7403 IH: National Opportunity to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022
U.S. House of Representatives
2022-04-05
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
I
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7403
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 5, 2022
Mr. Latta (for himself, Mrs. Lesko, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. Walberg, and Mr. Donalds) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to operate a uranium reserve consisting of uranium produced and converted in the United States and a program to ensure the availability of uranium produced, converted, and enriched in the United States, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Opportunity to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022” or the “NO RUSSIA Act of 2022”.
2.

Definitions
In this Act:
(1)

Department
The term Department means the Department of Energy.
(2)

Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy.
(3)

Uranium Reserve
The term Uranium Reserve means the national strategic uranium reserve operated pursuant to the program described in section 3(a).
3.

National Strategic Uranium Reserve
(a)

Program
On enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall immediately begin executing, with the amounts reallocated under subsection (f), a program to operate a national strategic uranium reserve to ensure the availability of uranium produced and converted in the United States in accordance with this section.
(b)

Purposes
The purposes of the Uranium Reserve are—
(1)
to ensure the availability of domestically produced and converted uranium in the event of a supply disruption;
(2)
to address domestic nuclear fuel supply chain gaps and deficiencies in uranium production and conversion; and
(3)
to support strategic nuclear fuel supply chain capabilities in the United States.
(c)

Activities
In operating the Uranium Reserve, the Secretary shall—
(1)
operate the Uranium Reserve in a manner consistent with the recommendations in the document entitled “Restoring America's Competitive Nuclear Energy Advantage: A Strategy to Assure U.S. National Security”, released by the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group in 2020;
(2)
acquire uranium produced and converted in the United States that is sufficient to sustain the continued operation of nuclear reactors in the United States in the event of a supply disruption;
(3)
make uranium available as needed, in a manner consistent with the cost recovery requirements described in subsection (d); and
(4)
replenish, in a manner consistent with the requirements of this section, uranium made available by the Department.
(d)

Cost recovery
(1)

In general
In carrying out activities under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that any uranium acquired, provided, or made available through the Uranium Reserve is subject to cost recovery based on the fair market value of the subject uranium.
(2)

Availability of certain funds
Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, revenues received from the sale or transfer of uranium and other activities related to making uranium available pursuant to this section—
(A)
shall be available to the Department for carrying out the purposes of this section, to reduce the need for further appropriations for those purposes; and
(B)
shall remain available until expended.
(e)

Exclusion
The Secretary shall exclude from the Uranium Reserve uranium from an entity that—
(1)
is owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation or the Government of the People’s Republic of China; or
(2)
is organized under the laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China.
(f)

Funding reallocation
(1)

In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amounts described in paragraph (2) shall be reallocated to the Office of Nuclear Energy of the Department for the purpose of executing the program described in subsection (a) by—
(A)
continuing the activities initiated by the Department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, using the amounts described in the proviso referred to in that paragraph;
(B)
carrying out other activities consistent with the purposes for which the amounts described in that proviso were originally made available; and
(C)
carrying out activities in accordance with this section.
(2)

Amounts described
The amounts referred to in paragraph (1) are the amounts that remain available as of the date of enactment of this Act from the $75,000,000 that shall be used for the Uranium Reserve Program described in the first proviso under the heading “weapons activities” under the heading “National Nuclear Security Administration” under the heading “atomic energy defense activities” in title III of division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 1369), that were made available to the Department by that Act.
(3)

Clarification
Paragraph (1) does not affect any amounts made available to the Department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, that are not described in the proviso referred to in paragraph (2).
4.

Domestic uranium availability
(a)

Establishment
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program (referred to in this section as the “program”) to ensure the availability of uranium produced, converted, and enriched in the United States.
(b)

Purposes
The purposes of the program shall be—
(1)
to eliminate reliance on Russian uranium;
(2)
to address domestic nuclear fuel supply chain gaps and deficiencies; and
(3)
to ensure the availability of domestically produced, converted, and enriched uranium to support the continued operation of nuclear reactors in the United States.
(c)

Considerations
In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall consider, and, as appropriate, execute options—
(1)
to establish, through a competitive process, new and, as appropriate, diverse domestic uranium mining, conversion, and enrichment capacity that is needed to replace uranium imported from Russia;
(2)
to activate and expand the American Assured Fuel Supply to meet domestic and international nuclear fuel supply needs;
(3)
to restock the American Assured Fuel Supply, including by utilizing, or merging with, the Uranium Reserve;
(4)
that do not disrupt or replace market mechanisms; and
(5)
that ensure the use of domestic uranium utilized as a result of the program does not negatively impact the economic operation of nuclear reactors in the United States.
(d)

Exclusion
The Secretary shall exclude from the program uranium from an entity that—
(1)
is owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation or the Government of the People’s Republic of China; or
(2)
is organized under the laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China.