[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5721. Mr. COTTON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the end of subtitle B of title XXXI, add the following:

     SEC. 3118. PLAN TO ACCELERATE RESTORATION OF DOMESTIC URANIUM 
                   ENRICHMENT.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States is engaged in a period of intense 
     strategic competition with 2 peer adversaries, each of which 
     aims to develop nuclear forces superior to the nuclear forces 
     of the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization;
       (2) successfully deterring the aims of such adversaries and 
     preserving the national security of the United States and the 
     security of its allies requires that the United States 
     maintain a capable, credible nuclear force, including the 
     capability to produce the materials needed to manufacture 
     nuclear weapons and provide reliable sources of energy for 
     naval vessels and military facilities; and
       (3) a key component to achieving those goals is the 
     restoration of the domestic uranium enrichment capability of 
     the United States, a component that will allow the United 
     States to make significant strides toward improved energy 
     independence by reducing reliance on international sources of 
     enriched uranium and opening up tremendous opportunities for 
     improving the competitiveness of the United States in the 
     international energy economy.
       (b) Plan.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than June 1, 2023, the Secretary 
     of Defense, in coordination with the Administrator for 
     Nuclear Security, shall submit to the congressional defense 
     committees a plan to restore the domestic uranium enrichment 
     capability of the United States by not later than 2035.
       (2) Elements.--The plan required by paragraph (1) shall 
     include the following elements:
       (A) Recommendations restore unobligated uranium production, 
     conversion and enrichment capabilities, including production 
     of high-enriched uranium--
       (i) to refurbish the nuclear weapons stockpile of the 
     United States over a period of not more than 30 years;
       (ii) to satisfy the annual requirements of the United 
     States for naval reactor fuel, including projections for 
     satisfying fuel requirements for all submarines developed 
     using reactor designs and technology of the United States; 
     and
       (iii) to satisfy the annual requirements of the United 
     States for defense nuclear power reactors.
       (B) Recommendations to improve the production capacity of 
     unobligated low-enriched uranium needed to satisfy annual 
     tritium production requirements for the nuclear weapons 
     stockpile of the United States and associated research and 
     development objectives.
       (C) Such other recommendations and information as the 
     Secretary of Defense or the Administrator for Nuclear 
     Security consider appropriate.
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