[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3485 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3485
To establish an international initiative to support the global
deployment of civil nuclear technologies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 18, 2023
Mr. Donalds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an international initiative to support the global
deployment of civil nuclear technologies, 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 ``Avoid Our Adversaries and Buy
American Nuclear Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL CIVIL NUCLEAR PROGRAM SUPPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
Secretary, shall launch an international initiative (referred to in
this section as the ``initiative'') to provide financial assistance to,
and facilitate the building of technical capacities by, in accordance
with this section, embarking civil nuclear nations for activities
relating to the development of civil nuclear energy programs.
(b) Financial Assistance.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the initiative, the
Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary, may
award grants of financial assistance to embarking civil nuclear
nations in accordance with this subsection--
(A) for activities relating to the development of
civil nuclear energy programs; and
(B) to facilitate the building of technical
capacities for those activities.
(2) Amount.--The amount of a grant of financial assistance
under paragraph (1) shall be not more than $5,500,000.
(3) Limitations.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Secretary, may award--
(A) not more than 1 grant of financial assistance
under paragraph (1) to any 1 embarking civil nuclear
nation each fiscal year; and
(B) not more than a total of 5 grants of financial
assistance under paragraph (1) to any 1 embarking civil
nuclear nation.
(c) Senior Advisors.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the initiative, the
Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary, may
provide financial assistance to an embarking civil nuclear
nation for the purpose of contracting with a U.S. nuclear
energy company to hire 1 or more senior advisors to assist the
embarking civil nuclear nation in establishing a civil nuclear
program.
(2) Requirement.--A senior advisor described in paragraph
(1) shall have relevant experience and qualifications to advise
the embarking civil nuclear nation on, and facilitate on behalf
of the embarking civil nuclear nation, 1 or more of the
following activities:
(A) The development of financing relationships.
(B) The development of a standardized financing and
project management framework for the construction of
nuclear power plants.
(C) The development of a standardized licensing
framework for--
(i) light water civil nuclear technologies;
and
(ii) non-light water civil nuclear
technologies and advanced nuclear reactors.
(D) The identification of qualified organizations
and service providers.
(E) The identification of funds to support payment
for services required to develop a civil nuclear
program.
(F) Market analysis.
(G) The identification of the safety, security,
safeguards, and nuclear governance required for a civil
nuclear program.
(H) Risk allocation, risk management, and nuclear
liability.
(I) Technical assessments of nuclear reactors and
technologies.
(J) The identification of actions necessary to
participate in a global nuclear liability regime based
on the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for
Nuclear Damage, with Annex, done at Vienna September
12, 1997 (TIAS 15-415).
(K) Stakeholder engagement.
(L) Management of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear
waste.
(M) Any other major activities to support the
establishment of a civil nuclear program, such as the
establishment of export, financing, construction,
training, operations, and education requirements.
(3) Clarification.--Financial assistance under this
subsection may be provided to an embarking civil nuclear nation
in addition to any financial assistance provided to that
embarking civil nuclear nation under subsection (b).
(d) Limitation on Assistance to Embarking Civil Nuclear Nations.--
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Offices of the Inspectors General for the Department of State and the
Department of Energy shall coordinate--
(1) to establish and submit to the appropriate committees
of Congress a joint strategic plan to conduct comprehensive
oversight of activities authorized under this section to
prevent fraud, waste, and abuse; and
(2) to engage in independent and effective oversight of
activities authorized under this section through joint or
individual audits, inspections, investigations, or evaluations.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Advanced nuclear reactor.--The term ``advanced nuclear
reactor'' means--
(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a
prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 52.1
of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor
regulations)), with significant improvements compared
to reactors operating on October 19, 2016, including
improvements such as--
(i) additional inherent safety features;
(ii) lower waste yields;
(iii) improved fuel and material
performance;
(iv) increased tolerance to loss of fuel
cooling;
(v) enhanced reliability or improved
resilience;
(vi) increased proliferation resistance;
(vii) increased thermal efficiency;
(viii) reduced consumption of cooling water
and other environmental impacts;
(ix) the ability to integrate into electric
applications and nonelectric applications;
(x) modular sizes to allow for deployment
that corresponds with the demand for
electricity or process heat; and
(xi) operational flexibility to respond to
changes in demand for electricity or process
heat and to complement integration with
intermittent renewable energy or energy
storage;
(B) a fusion reactor; and
(C) a radioisotope power system that utilizes heat
from radioactive decay to generate energy.
(2) Civil nuclear.--The term ``civil nuclear'' means
activities relating to--
(A) nuclear plant construction;
(B) nuclear fuel services;
(C) nuclear energy financing;
(D) nuclear plant operations;
(E) nuclear plant regulation;
(F) nuclear medicine;
(G) nuclear safety;
(H) community engagement in areas in reasonable
proximity to nuclear sites;
(I) infrastructure support for nuclear energy;
(J) nuclear plant decommissioning;
(K) nuclear liability;
(L) safe storage and safe disposal of spent nuclear
fuel;
(M) environmental safeguards;
(N) nuclear nonproliferation and security; and
(O) technology related to the matters described in
subparagraphs (A) through (N).
(3) Embarking civil nuclear nation.--
(A) In general.--The term ``embarking civil nuclear
nation'' means a country that--
(i) does not have a civil nuclear energy
program;
(ii) is in the process of developing or
expanding a civil nuclear energy program,
including safeguards and a legal and regulatory
framework, for--
(I) nuclear safety;
(II) nuclear security;
(III) radioactive waste management;
(IV) civil nuclear energy;
(V) environmental safeguards;
(VI) community engagement in areas
in reasonable proximity to nuclear
sites;
(VII) nuclear liability; or
(VIII) advanced nuclear reactor
licensing;
(iii) is in the process of selecting,
developing, constructing, or utilizing advanced
light water reactors, advanced nuclear
reactors, or advanced civil nuclear
technologies; or
(iv) had an annual per capita gross
domestic product of not more than $28,000 in
2020.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``embarking civil nuclear
nation'' does not include--
(i) the People's Republic of China;
(ii) the Russian Federation;
(iii) the Republic of Belarus;
(iv) the Islamic Republic of Iran;
(v) the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea;
(vi) the Republic of Cuba;
(vii) the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
(viii) the Syrian Arab Republic;
(ix) Burma; or
(x) any other country--
(I) the property or interests in
property of the government of which are
blocked pursuant to the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
(II) the government of which the
Secretary of State has determined has
repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism for purposes
of--
(aa) section 620A(a) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2371(a));
(bb) section 40(d) of the
Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2780(d));
(cc) section
1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Export
Control Reform Act of 2018 (50
U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)(i)); or
(dd) any other relevant
provision of law.
(4) Spent nuclear fuel.--The term ``spent nuclear fuel''
has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).
(5) U.S. nuclear energy company.--The term ``U.S. nuclear
energy company'' means a company that--
(A) is organized under the laws of, or otherwise
subject to the jurisdiction of, the United States; and
(B) is involved in the nuclear energy industry.
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