[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6352. Mr. HEINRICH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2027 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 appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER OF PLUTONIUM TO PRIVATE
ENTITIES FOR COMMERCIAL USE.
Section 57 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.
2077) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``f. Prohibition on Transfer of Plutonium to Private
Entities for Commercial Use.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Commercial activity.--The term `commercial activity'
means an activity carried out for profit, including the
generation of electricity for sale.
``(B) Nuclear explosive device.--The term `nuclear
explosive device' means any device that uses source material
or special nuclear material that is designed to or capable of
producing a nuclear explosion, including a nuclear weapon,
weapon prototype, or a weapon test device, regardless of
whether the device is intended for use as a weapon.
``(C) Private entity.--The term `private entity' means a
person other than a department, agency, or instrumentality of
the United States.
``(D) Separated plutonium.--The term `separated plutonium'
means plutonium with respect to which separation of plutonium
has occurred.
``(E) Separation of plutonium.--The term `separation of
plutonium' means any chemical, physical, or other process
applied to spent nuclear fuel or other material containing
plutonium that produces a product in which plutonium--
``(i) is isolated from other transuranic elements,
including neptunium, americium, and curium, to a degree such
that the product could be used in the manufacture of a
nuclear explosive device without further separation of the
plutonium from those other transuranic elements; or
``(ii) is otherwise rendered usable, or usable with minimal
further processing, in the manufacture of a nuclear explosive
device.
``(2) Prohibition on transfer and possession of
plutonium.--Notwithstanding subsection (a) or section 53, the
United States, including the Department of Energy and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, may not transfer title to, or
possession of, any plutonium to a private entity for use by
that private entity in commercial activity unless an
exception described in paragraph (6) applies.
``(3) Retrieval of previously transferred plutonium.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of Energy shall
retrieve any plutonium that, as of that date of enactment, is
in the possession of a private entity as a result of a
transfer of the plutonium for use in a commercial activity,
unless an exception described in paragraph (6) applies.
``(B) Effect of failure to retrieve.--Any plutonium that
the Secretary of Energy is required to retrieve under
subparagraph (A) that remains in the possession of a private
entity at the end of the 90-day period described in that
subparagraph shall be considered to be a possession in
violation of paragraph (2).
``(4) Prohibition on importation of separated plutonium by
private entities.--Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any
license issued under that subsection, no private entity may
import into the United States any separated plutonium for use
in a commercial activity, unless an exception described in
paragraph (6) applies.
``(5) Prohibition on commercial separation of plutonium.--
No person operating, pursuant to a license issued under
section 103 or 104, a facility that reprocesses spent nuclear
fuel or other source material or special nuclear material may
use, in that operation, any process that results in the
separation of plutonium.
``(6) Exceptions described.--An exception referred to in
this subsection is--
``(A) the possession or transfer of plutonium composed of
80 percent or more by weight of the isotope plutonium-238;
``(B) the possession of plutonium by or transfer of
plutonium to a contractor or subcontractor operating a
facility for the account of the Department of Energy, where
title to the plutonium remains with the United States; or
``(C) the possession or transfer of plutonium for purposes
of the disposal, disposition, downblending, or vitrification
of plutonium under a program of the Department of Energy
relating to nuclear proliferation or radioactive waste
management, subject to the condition that any plutonium
derived from a possession or transfer under this subparagraph
shall not be used in a commercial activity.''.
______