[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3978 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3978

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 2022

 Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Marshall) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

    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 ``National Opportunity to Restore 
Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022'' or the ``NO RUSSIA Act 
of 2022''.

SEC. 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).

SEC. 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)(1), 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.--
            (1) Reallocation.--
                    (A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the amounts described in subparagraph 
                (B) shall be reallocated to the Office of Nuclear 
                Energy of the Department for the purpose of executing 
                the program described in subsection (a) by--
                            (i) continuing the activities initiated by 
                        the Department, including the National Nuclear 
                        Security Administration, using amounts made 
                        available for the Uranium Reserve Program 
                        pursuant to the proviso referred to in that 
                        subparagraph;
                            (ii) carrying out other activities 
                        consistent with the purposes for which the 
                        amounts described in clause (i) were originally 
                        made available; and
                            (iii) carrying out activities in accordance 
                        with this section.
                    (B) Amounts described.--The amounts referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) are the amounts that remain available 
                as of the date of enactment of this Act from the 
                $75,000,000 made available for the Uranium Reserve 
                Program pursuant to 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).
                    (C) Clarification.--Subparagraph (A) 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 
                subparagraph (B) as available for the Uranium Reserve 
                Program.
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to 
        amounts otherwise made available, there is authorized to be 
        appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section 
        $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032.

SEC. 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.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise made available, there are authorized to be appropriated to 
the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for 
each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032.
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