I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9200 

To require an evaluation of the nuclear supply chain of the United States 

to further reduce regulatory barriers and associated costs for nuclear 

supply chain manufacturers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2024 

Mr. DONALDS (for himself, Mr. NEHLS, and Mr. WILLIAMS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require an evaluation of the nuclear supply chain of 

the United States to further reduce regulatory barriers 

and associated costs for nuclear supply chain manufacturers, 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 ‘‘Atomic Supply Chain 

5 Solutions Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The United States remains an esteemed 

2 global leader in the area of nuclear safety. 

3 (2) The strength of the nuclear supply chain of 

4 the United States is directly tied to the growth of 

5 the nuclear energy sector. 

6 SEC. 3. NUCLEAR SUPPLY CHAIN EVALUATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

9 shall develop and submit to the appropriate congressional 

10 committees an evaluation of the nuclear supply chain of 

11 the United States. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.— 

13 (1) BUILDING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME.—The 

14 evaluation developed and submitted under subsection 

15 (a) shall include a general description of— 

16 (A) past efforts within the nuclear supply 

17 chain of the United States to meet increased 

18 demand; 

19 (B) the importance of proactively bol20 stering the nuclear supply chain of the United 

21 States in order to meet future demand for nu22 clear energy; and 

23 (C) lessons learned from the construction 

24 of Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia, including an anal25 ysis of how the nuclear supply chain of the 


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1 United States operated during such construc2 tion and any improvements that could be made 

3 to assist with future nuclear construction 

4 projects, including workforce and supply chain 

5 considerations. 

6 (2) COMPONENT REGULATORY CHALLENGES.— 

7 The evaluation developed and submitted under sub8 section (a) shall include— 

9 (A) an analysis of whether the requirement 

10 for an N–stamp is appropriate and necessary, 

11 as determined through the use of probabilistic 

12 methodology or other similar methods, for cer13 tain nuclear components and materials (selected 

14 by the Secretary of Energy) that currently re15 quire an N–stamp; 

16 (B) a general analysis of the costs associ17 ated with regulatory requirements relating to— 

18 (i) safety-related nuclear components 

19 and materials that receive appropriate 

20 ASME certification; 

21 (ii) safety-related nuclear components 

22 and materials that do not receive appro23 priate ASME certification but instead re24 ceive acceptance by the Nuclear Regulatory 


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1 Commission through commercial grade 

2 dedication; and 

3 (iii) nonsafety-related nuclear compo4 nents and materials that do not have to 

5 obtain a relevant quality assurance require6 ment; 

7 (C) identification of potential ways to 

8 streamline the acquisition and maintenance of 

9 N–stamps and other similar certifications for 

10 entities that already have obtained such N– 

11 stamps or other similar certifications; and 

12 (D) an analysis of N–stamps being effec13 tive for a total of a period of 3 years, whether 

14 such period could be increased, and what im15 pact such an increase would have on safety and 

16 the cost associated with obtaining an N–stamp. 

17 (3) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND INNOVA18 TIVE TECHNOLOGIES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The evaluation devel20 oped and submitted under subsection (a) may 

21 include an analysis of potential uses and bene22 fits that advanced manufacturing and innova23 tive technologies, such as 3D printing, advanced 

24 modeling and simulation, augmented reality 

25 training, artificial intelligence, robotics, and 


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1 drones, can provide to the nuclear supply chain 

2 of the United States, if the Secretary deter3 mines such analysis to be pertinent. 

4 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The analysis under sub5 paragraph (A) may include a general descrip6 tion of— 

7 (i) the current status of innovative 

8 technologies described in such subpara9 graph with respect to the use of such tech10 nologies within the nuclear supply chain of 

11 the United States; 

12 (ii) potential uses for such tech13 nologies within the nuclear supply chain of 

14 the United States, including use for— 

15 (I) reducing cybersecurity 

16 vulnerabilities; 

17 (II) maximizing the efficiency 

18 and effectiveness of transporting nu19 clear components and materials; 

20 (III) examining the technology 

21 readiness of individual components, 

22 including structural and thermal anal23 ysis; 

24 (IV) predicting maintenance 

25 schedules and subsequent costs; 


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1 (V) training nuclear supply chain 

2 workforce participants; 

3 (VI) identifying counterfeit nu4 clear components and materials; and 

5 (VII) any other use that may be 

6 relevant; 

7 (iii) economic considerations associ8 ated with such technologies; and 

9 (iv) potential challenges associated 

10 with such technologies, including potential 

11 regulatory challenges with respect to the 

12 use of such technologies within the nuclear 

13 supply chain of the United States. 

14 (4) ALLIED COOPERATION.—The evaluation de15 veloped and submitted under subsection (a) shall in16 clude a general description of— 

17 (A) the relationship between the United 

18 States and Canada with respect to nuclear com19 ponents and materials, including recommenda20 tions on bolstering nuclear-related collaboration 

21 with Canada to extend North American civil 

22 nuclear energy leadership around the world; 

23 and 

24 (B) whether certain nuclear components 

25 and materials that are manufactured in the 


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1 United States, as selected by the Secretary of 

2 Energy, are cost competitive with similar nu3 clear components and materials that are manu4 factured internationally. 

5 (5) ADVANCED NUCLEAR DEMAND.—The eval6 uation developed and submitted under subsection (a) 

7 shall include a description of how advanced nuclear 

8 technology, including the anticipated increased de9 mand for advanced nuclear technology, will impact 

10 the existing nuclear supply chain of the United 

11 States, and recommendations for increasing the re12 siliency of the nuclear supply chain of the United 

13 States to prepare for such increased demand. 

14 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON HALEU. 

15 It is the policy of the United States to prioritize es16 tablishing a robust, diversified domestic high-assay, low 

17 enriched uranium (HALEU) market that will ultimately 

18 strengthen the energy independence and national security 

19 of the United States while reducing procurement and na20 tional security risks associated with HALEU, especially 

21 with the anticipated increased demand for advanced nu22 clear technology. 

23 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Energy and Com5 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

6 (B) the Committee on Environment and 

7 Public Works and the Committee on Energy 

8 and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

9 (2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar10 tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given such 

11 term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intel12 ligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401). 

13 (3) ASME.—The term ‘‘ASME’’ means the 

14 American Society for Mechanical Engineers. 

15 (4) N–STAMP.—The term ‘‘N–stamp’’ means 

16 the ASME Nuclear Certification. 

17 (5) NUCLEAR COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS.— 

18 The term ‘‘nuclear components and materials’’ in19 cludes— 

20 (A) reactor pressure vessels; 

21 (B) thermocouples; 

22 (C) heat exchangers; 

23 (D) pumps; 

24 (E) sensors; 

25 (F) piping; 


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1 (G) castings; 

2 (H) structural steel; 

3 (I) concrete; 

4 (J) cabling; 

5 (K) nuclear grade graphite; 

6 (L) helium; 

7 (M) sodium; 

8 (N) molten salts; 

9 (O) beryllium; and 

10 (P) any other component or material deter11 mined appropriate by the Secretary of Energy. 

Æ 


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