To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary prizes for achievements in designing and proposing nuclear energy used fuel alternatives.

Summary: Nuclear Used Fuel Prize Act of 2008 - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to implement a program to award cash prizes competitively for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of nuclear used fuel storage.

Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer the prize competition.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Used Fuel Prize Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administering entity.--The term ``administering 
        entity'' means the entity with which the Secretary enters into 
        an agreement under section 4(c).
            (2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Energy.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The rising cost of energy has become a hindrance to 
        American economic progress.
            (2) High and rising energy costs have become a burden upon 
        the American family.
            (3) Nuclear energy can be a safe, efficient, clean, and 
        affordable source of renewable energy and should be considered 
        as part of the solution for long-term American energy 
        independence.
            (4) Used nuclear fuel is and has been safely stored on 
        nuclear energy electricity producing reactor sites for many 
        years.
            (5) Those sites were originally not designed or built for 
        such storage.
            (6) By 2015 it is estimated that the United States will 
        maintain 70,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste.
            (7) The country's electricity needs are best served by 
        allowing new nuclear reactors to be built, in many cases on 
        existing reactor sites.
            (8) Removal of the used nuclear fuel from those sites can 
        be safely done and would lead to more efficient management of 
        used fuel, and lower costs.
            (9) Development of alternatives to current storage 
        facilities, including the Yucca Mountain long-term storage 
        facility, would also allow used nuclear fuel from 
        decommissioned reactor sites to be moved and final clean up of 
        those sites to take place.
            (10) Citizens and communities in the United States 
        interested in developing alternatives to current storage 
        proposals, including the high-level Yucca Mountain storage 
        facility, should be provided the incentive to move forward with 
        these designs and plans.
            (11) Prize legislation has been a successful method used by 
        the United States Government to solve some of our country's 
        most difficult problems, from space travel to vehicles with 
        super efficiency.
            (12) There is merit in and need for establishing a program 
        of prize incentives to develop used nuclear fuel management 
        plans.

SEC. 4. PRIZE AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a program to 
competitively award cash prizes in conformity with this Act to advance 
the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of 
nuclear used fuel storage.
    (b) Advertising and Solicitation of Competitors.--
            (1) Advertising.--The Secretary shall widely advertise 
        prize competitions to encourage broad participation in the 
        program carried out under subsection (a), including 
        individuals, universities, communities, and large and small 
        businesses.
            (2) Announcement through federal register notice.--The 
        Secretary shall announce each prize competition by publishing a 
        notice in the Federal Register. This notice shall include 
        essential elements of the competition such as the subject of 
        the competition, the duration of the competition, the 
        eligibility requirements for participation in the competition, 
        the process for participants to register for the competition, 
        the amount of the prize, and the criteria for awarding the 
        prize.
    (c) Administering the Competition.--The Secretary may enter into an 
agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer the prize 
competitions, subject to the provisions of this Act. The administering 
entity shall perform the following functions:
            (1) Advertise the competition and its results.
            (2) Raise funds from private entities and individuals to 
        pay for administrative costs and cash prizes.
            (3) Develop, in consultation with and subject to the final 
        approval of the Secretary, criteria to select winners based 
        upon the goal of safely and adequately storing nuclear used 
        fuel.
            (4) Determine, in consultation with and subject to the 
        final approval of the Secretary, the appropriate amount of the 
        awards.
            (5) Protect against the administering entity's unauthorized 
        use or disclosure of a registered participant's intellectual 
        property, trade secrets, and confidential business information. 
        Any information properly identified as trade secrets or 
        confidential business information that is submitted by a 
        participant as part of a competitive program under this Act may 
        be withheld from public disclosure.
            (6) Develop and promulgate sufficient rules to define the 
        parameters of designing and proposing safe and secure nuclear 
        energy used fuel storage with input from industry, citizens, 
        and corporations familiar with such activities.
    (d) Funding Sources.--Prizes under this Act may consist of Federal 
appropriated funds, funds provided by the administering entity, or 
funds raised through grants or donations. The Secretary may accept 
funds from other Federal agencies for such cash prizes and, 
notwithstanding section 3302(b) of title 31, United States Code, may 
use such funds for the cash prize program. Other than publication of 
the names of prize sponsors, the Secretary may not give any special 
consideration to any private sector entity or individual in return for 
a donation to the Secretary or administering entity.
    (e) Announcement of Prizes.--The Secretary may not publish a notice 
required by subsection (b)(2) until all the funds needed to pay out the 
announced amount of the prize have been appropriated to the Department 
or the Department has received from the administering entity a written 
commitment to provide all necessary funds.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY.

    To be eligible to win a prize under this Act, an individual or 
entity--
            (1) shall notify the administering entity of intent to 
        submit ideas and intent to collect the prize upon selection;
            (2) shall comply with all the requirements stated in the 
        Federal Register notice required under section 4(b)(2);
            (3) in the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated 
        in and maintain a primary place of business in the United 
        States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating 
        singly or in a group, shall be a citizen of the United States;
            (4) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal employee 
        acting within the scope of his or her employment, or an 
        employee of a national laboratory acting within the scope of 
        employment;
            (5) shall not use Federal funding or other Federal 
        resources to compete for the prize;
            (6) shall not be an entity acting on behalf of any foreign 
        government or agent acting on behalf of a current federally 
        filed proposal for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility or 
        repository; and
            (7) shall present a proposal to the administering entity to 
        remove used nuclear fuel for such period of time as shall be 
        necessary prior to the development of advanced fuel cycle 
        facilities and a final repository for used fuel waste as may be 
        ultimately in need of disposal.

SEC. 6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

    The Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offering or awarding 
a prize under this Act, be entitled to any intellectual property rights 
derived as a consequence of, or in direct relation to, the 
participation by a registered participant in a competition authorized 
by this Act. This section shall not be construed to prevent the Federal 
Government from negotiating a license for the use of intellectual 
property developed for a prize competition under this Act. The Federal 
Government may seek assurances that technologies for which prizes are 
awarded under this Act are offered for commercialization in the event 
an award recipient does not take, or is not expected to take within a 
reasonable time, effective steps to achieve practical application of 
the technology.

SEC. 7. WAIVER OF LIABILITY.

    The Secretary may require registered participants to waive claims 
against the Federal Government and the administering entity (except 
claims for willful misconduct) for any injury, death, damage, or loss 
of property, revenue, or profits arising from the registered 
participants' participation in a competition under this Act. The 
Secretary shall give notice of any waiver required under this section 
in the notice required by section 4(b)(2). The Secretary may not 
require a registered participant to waive claims against the 
administering entity arising out of the unauthorized use or disclosure 
by the administering entity of the registered participant's 
intellectual property, trade secrets, or confidential business 
information.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Awards.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary for the period encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2020 
for carrying out this Act--
            (1) $10,000,000 each for two awards, and Federal 
        contracting opportunities; and
            (2) $2,000,000 for two additional awards to support 
        continued actions to develop the successful entities.
    (b) Treatment of Awards.--Amounts received pursuant to an award 
under this Act may not be taxed by any Federal, State, or local 
authority.
    (c) Administration.--In addition to the amounts authorized under 
subsection (a), there are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2020 $2,000,000 for the 
administrative costs of carrying out this Act.
    (d) Carryover of Funds.--Funds appropriated for prize awards under 
this Act shall remain available until expended and may be transferred, 
reprogrammed, or expended for other purposes only after the expiration 
of 11 fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were 
originally appropriated. No provision in this Act permits obligation or 
payment of funds in violation of section 1341 of title 31, United 
States Code.