I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 330

To extend indemnification authority under section 170 of the Atomic Energy 

Act of 1954, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2003

Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BURR, Mr. 

FOSSELLA, Mr. NORWOOD, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. WAMP, and Mr. 

WHITFIELD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To extend indemnification authority under section 170 of 

the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Price-Anderson 

5 Amendments Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF INDEMNIFICATION AUTHORITY. 

7 (a) INDEMNIFICATION OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY

8 COMMISSION LICENSEES.—Section 170 c. of the Atomic 

9 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(c)) is amended—
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1 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘LI2 CENSES’’ and inserting ‘‘LICENSEES’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘August 1, 2002’’ each place it 

4 appears and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2017’’. 

5 (b) INDEMNIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

6 CONTRACTORS.—Section 170 d.(1)(A) of the Atomic En7 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)(1)(A)) is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘December 31, 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘August 

9 1, 2017’’. 

10 (c) INDEMNIFICATION OF NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL

11 INSTITUTIONS.—Section 170 k. of the Atomic Energy Act 

12 of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(k)) is amended by striking ‘‘Au13 gust 1, 2002’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘August 

14 1, 2017’’. 

15 SEC. 3. MAXIMUM ASSESSMENT. 

16 Section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

17 U.S.C. 2210) is amended—

18 (1) in the second proviso of the third sentence 

19 of subsection b.(1)—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘$63,000,000’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘$94,000,000’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘$10,000,000 in any 1 

23 year’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000 in any 1 year 

24 (subject to adjustment for inflation under sub25 section t.)’’; and 
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1 (2) in subsection t.(1)—

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘total and annual’’ after 

3 ‘‘amount of the maximum’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘the date of the enactment 

5 of the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 

6 1988’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2002’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘such date of enactment’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2002’’. 

9 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LIABILITY LIMIT. 

10 (a) INDEMNIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

11 CONTRACTORS.—Section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act 

12 of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is amended by striking para13 graph (2) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) In an agreement of indemnification entered into 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary—

16 ‘‘(A) may require the contractor to provide and 

17 maintain financial protection of such a type and in 

18 such amounts as the Secretary shall determine to be 

19 appropriate to cover public liability arising out of or 

20 in connection with the contractual activity; and 

21 ‘‘(B) shall indemnify the persons indemnified 

22 against such liability above the amount of the finan23 cial protection required, in the amount of 

24 $10,000,000,000 (subject to adjustment for inflation 

25 under subsection t.), in the aggregate, for all per-
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1 sons indemnified in connection with the contract and 

2 for each nuclear incident, including such legal costs 

3 of the contractor as are approved by the Secretary.’’. 

4 (b) CONTRACT AMENDMENTS.—Section 170 d. of the 

5 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is further 

6 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(3) All agreements of indemnification under which 

9 the Department of Energy (or its predecessor agencies) 

10 may be required to indemnify any person under this sec11 tion shall be deemed to be amended, on the date of enact12 ment of the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 2003, to 

13 reflect the amount of indemnity for public liability and any 

14 applicable financial protection required of the contractor 

15 under this subsection.’’. 

16 (c) LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170 e.(1)(B) of the 

17 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(1)(B)) is 

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘the maximum amount of finan20 cial protection required under subsection b. or’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3) of subsection d., 

22 whichever amount is more’’ and inserting ‘‘para23 graph (2) of subsection d.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. INCIDENTS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. 

2 (a) AMOUNT OF INDEMNIFICATION.—Section 170 

3 d.(5) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 

4 2210(d)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘$500,000,000’’. 

6 (b) LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170 e.(4) of the 

7 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(4)) is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$500,000,000’’. 

10 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

11 Section 170 p. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

12 U.S.C. 2210(p)) is amended by striking ‘‘August 1, 1998’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2013’’. 

14 SEC. 7. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT. 

15 Section 170 t. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

16 U.S.C. 2210(t)) is amended—

17 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para18 graph (3); and 

19 (2) by adding after paragraph (1) the following:

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall adjust the amount of indem21 nification provided under an agreement of indemnification 

22 under subsection d. not less than once during each 5-year 

23 period following July 1, 2002, in accordance with the ag24 gregate percentage change in the Consumer Price Index 

25 since—
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1 ‘‘(A) that date, in the case of the first adjust2 ment under this paragraph; or 

3 ‘‘(B) the previous adjustment under this para4 graph.’’. 

5 SEC. 8. TREATMENT OF MODULAR REACTORS. 

6 Section 170 b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

7 U.S.C. 2210(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(5)(A) For purposes of this section only, the Com10 mission shall consider a combination of facilities described 

11 in subparagraph (B) to be a single facility having a rated 

12 capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more. 

13 ‘‘(B) A combination of facilities referred to in sub14 paragraph (A) is 2 or more facilities located at a single 

15 site, each of which has a rated capacity of 100,000 elec16 trical kilowatts or more but not more than 300,000 elec17 trical kilowatts, with a combined rated capacity of not 

18 more than 1,300,000 electrical kilowatts.’’. 

19 SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY. 

20 The amendments made by sections 3, 4, and 5 do 

21 not apply to a nuclear incident that occurs before the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 10. CIVIL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) REPEAL OF AUTOMATIC REMISSION.—Section 

3 234A b.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 

4 2282a(b)(2)) is amended by striking the last sentence. 

5 (b) LIMITATION FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT INSTITU6 TIONS.—Subsection d. of section 234A of the Atomic En7 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2282a(d)) is amended to read 

8 as follows: 

9 ‘‘d.(1) Notwithstanding subsection a., in the case of 

10 any not-for-profit contractor, subcontractor, or supplier, 

11 the total amount of civil penalties paid under subsection 

12 a. may not exceed the total amount of fees paid within 

13 any one-year period (as determined by the Secretary) 

14 under the contract under which the violation occurs. 

15 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘not-for16 profit’ means that no part of the net earnings of the con17 tractor, subcontractor, or supplier inures, or may lawfully 

18 inure, to the benefit of any natural person or for-profit 

19 artificial person.’’. 

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall not apply to any violation of the Atomic 

22 Energy Act of 1954 occurring under a contract entered 

23 into before the date of enactment of this section.

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