I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1646 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States 

Executive Director at the World Bank and other international financial 

institutions to support assistance for nuclear energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2021 

Mr. MCHENRY (for himself and Mr. HILL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the 

United States Executive Director at the World Bank 

and other international financial institutions to support 

assistance for nuclear energy, 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 ‘‘International Nuclear 

5 Energy Financing Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Nuclear power provides clean energy with 

2 greater reliability than wind or solar energy, and 

3 with comparable life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. 

4 (2) According to W. Gyude Moore, the former 

5 Minister of Public Works for Liberia, ‘‘Obstacles to 

6 the financing of nuclear power in emerging econo7 mies work to prevent countries like my own from in8 dustrializing our economies and building climate-re9 silient infrastructure. This is especially bad timing 

10 as the next generation of nuclear technologies, in11 cluding small modular reactors and microreactors, 

12 are especially suitable to emerging markets. Such re13 strictions are an example of climate injustice, not a 

14 reaction against it.’’. 

15 (3) The People’s Republic of China and the 

16 Russian Federation have sought to export nuclear 

17 reactors to Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and 

18 South Asia using technologies which, according to a 

19 2017 study by Columbia University’s Center on 

20 Global Energy Policy, are associated with higher 

21 safety risk than American and Japanese reactor de22 signs. 

23 (4) In a 2019 letter to congressional leaders, 38 

24 national security experts emphasized the importance 

25 of nuclear energy finance to counter Chinese and 


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1 Russian ambitions, writing: ‘‘In the nuclear energy 

2 sector, the initial supply of a reactor typically leads 

3 to the supplier’s involvement throughout the hun4 dred-year life of the nuclear program, enabling long5 term influence on nuclear safety, security and non6 proliferation, as well as the ability to advance energy 

7 security and broader foreign policy interests.’’. 

8 (5) As Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General 

9 of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote in 

10 Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2020, ‘‘Nuclear 

11 power, currently being generated in 30 countries, is 

12 already reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 

13 two gigatons per year. That is the equivalent of tak14 ing more than 400 million cars off the road—every 

15 year.’’. He continued, ‘‘Nuclear power now provides 

16 about 10 percent of the world’s electricity, but it 

17 contributes almost 30 percent of all low carbon elec18 tricity. Nuclear power will be essential for achieving 

19 the low carbon future which world leaders have 

20 agreed to strive for.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SUP22 PORT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY. 

23 The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 

24 United States Executive Director at the International 

25 Bank for Reconstruction and Development and, as the 


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1 Secretary deems appropriate, the United States Executive 

2 Director at any other international financial institution 

3 (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Fi4 nancial Institutions Act), to use the voice, vote, and influ5 ence of the United States at the institution to support fi6 nancial assistance for the generation and distribution of 

7 nuclear energy, consistent with the national security inter8 ests of the United States. 

9 SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY. 

10 The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the require11 ment of section 3 on a case-by-base basis upon notifying 

12 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

14 the Senate that the waiver is in the national interest of 

15 the United States, with a detailed explanation of the rea16 sons therefor. 

17 SEC. 5. PROGRESS REPORT. 

18 The Chairman of the National Advisory Council on 

19 International Monetary and Financial Policies shall in20 clude in the annual report required by section 1701 of the 

21 International Financial Institutions Act a discussion of 

22 any progress made in promoting international financial in23 stitution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of such Act) 

24 assistance for nuclear energy. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

2 This Act shall have no force or effect after the date 

3 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

Æ 


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