118 HR 3485 IH: Avoid Our Adversaries and Buy American Nuclear Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-05-18
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I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3485
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.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Avoid Our Adversaries and Buy American Nuclear Act”.
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.