II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1428 

To amend the USEC Privatization Act to require the Secretary of Energy 

to issue a long-term Federal excess uranium inventory management plan, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. HEINRICH) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the USEC Privatization Act to require the Secretary of Energy to issue a long-term Federal excess 

uranium inventory management plan, 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 ‘‘Excess Uranium 

5 Transparency and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. URANIUM TRANSFERS AND SALES. 

7 Section 3112 of the USEC Privatization Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 2297h–10) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) 

2 as subsections (d) through (h), respectively; 

3 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) DEPLETED URANIUM.—The term ‘depleted 

7 uranium’ means uranium having an assay less than 

8 the assay for— 

9 ‘‘(A) natural uranium; or 

10 ‘‘(B) 0.711 percent of the uranium-235 

11 isotope. 

12 ‘‘(2) HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM.—The term 

13 ‘highly enriched uranium’ means uranium having an 

14 assay of 20 percent or greater of the uranium-235 

15 isotope. 

16 ‘‘(3) LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM.—The term 

17 ‘low-enriched uranium’ means uranium having an 

18 assay greater than 0.711 percent but less than 20 

19 percent of the uranium-235 isotope. 

20 ‘‘(4) METRIC TON OF URANIUM.—The term 

21 ‘metric ton of uranium’ means 1,000 kilograms of 

22 uranium. 

23 ‘‘(5) NATURAL URANIUM.—The term ‘natural 

24 uranium’ means uranium having an assay of 0.711 

25 percent of the uranium-235 isotope. 


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1 ‘‘(6) OFF-SPEC URANIUM.—The term ‘off-spec 

2 uranium’ means uranium in any form, including de3 pleted uranium, highly enriched uranium, low-en4 riched uranium, natural uranium, UF6, and any by5 product of uranium processing, that does not meet 

6 the specification for commercial material (as defined 

7 by the standards of the American Society for Test8 ing and Materials). 

9 ‘‘(7) URANIUM.—Other than in subsection (c), 

10 the term ‘uranium’ includes natural uranium, ura11 nium hexafluoride, highly enriched uranium, low-en12 riched uranium, depleted uranium, and any byprod13 uct of uranium processing. 

14 ‘‘(8) URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE; UF6.—The 

15 terms ‘uranium hexafluoride’ and ‘UF6’ mean ura16 nium that has been combined with fluorine, to form 

17 a compound that, dependent on temperature and 

18 pressure, can be a solid, liquid, or gas. 

19 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS AND SALES BY THE SECRETARY.— 

20 The Secretary shall not provide enrichment services, or 

21 transfer, sell or otherwise provide any uranium to any per22 son except in accordance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF FEDERAL EXCESS URANIUM

24 MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on January 1, 

2 2017, and not less frequently than once every 10 

3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall issue a long4 term Federal excess uranium inventory management 

5 plan (referred to in this section as the ‘plan’) that 

6 details the management of the excess uranium inven7 tories of the Department of Energy and covers a pe8 riod of not fewer than 10 years. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The plan shall cover 

11 all forms of uranium within the excess uranium 

12 inventory of the Department of Energy, includ13 ing depleted uranium, highly enriched uranium, 

14 low-enriched uranium, natural uranium, off15 spec uranium, and UF6. 

16 ‘‘(B) REDUCING IMPACT ON DOMESTIC IN17 DUSTRY.—The plan shall outline steps the Sec18 retary will take to minimize the impact of 

19 transferring, selling, or otherwise providing ura20 nium on the domestic uranium mining, conver21 sion, and enrichment industries, including any 

22 actions for which the Secretary would require 

23 new authority. 

24 ‘‘(C) MAXIMIZING BENEFITS TO THE FED25 ERAL GOVERNMENT.—The plan shall outline 


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1 steps the Secretary shall take to ensure that the 

2 Federal Government maximizes the potential 

3 value of uranium for the Federal Government. 

4 ‘‘(3) PROPOSED PLAN.—Before issuing the final 

5 plan, the Secretary shall publish a proposed plan in 

6 the Federal Register pursuant to a rulemaking 

7 under section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION.—The Sec9 retary shall issue— 

10 ‘‘(A) a proposed plan for public comment 

11 under paragraph (3) not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this paragraph; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) a final plan not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this paragraph.’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para17 graph (1))— 

18 (A) in the sixth sentence of paragraph (3), 

19 by striking ‘‘subsections (b)(5), (b)(6) and 

20 (b)(7) of this section’’ and inserting ‘‘para21 graphs (5), (6), and (7)’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘(b)’’; 

23 (4) in subsection (e)(1) (as redesignated by 

24 paragraph (1)), by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(2)’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; 


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1 (5) in subsection (f) (as redesignated by para2 graph (1))— 

3 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the trans6 fers authorized under subsections (e) and (g), the 

7 Secretary may transfer, sell, or otherwise provide 

8 any uranium from the stockpile of the Department 

9 of Energy, subject to the following limitations: 

10 ‘‘(A) Effective for the period of calendar 

11 years 2016 through 2023, and notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law, the Secretary shall 

13 not transfer, sell, or otherwise provide more 

14 than 2,100 metric tons of natural uranium 

15 equivalent annually in any form, including de16 pleted uranium, highly enriched uranium, low17 enriched uranium, natural uranium, off-spec 

18 uranium, and UF6. 

19 ‘‘(B) Effective beginning on January 1, 

20 2024, and notwithstanding any other provision 

21 of law, the Secretary shall not transfer, sell, or 

22 otherwise provide more than 2,700 metric tons 

23 of natural uranium equivalent annually in any 

24 form, including depleted uranium, highly enVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 May 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1428.IS S1428

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1 riched uranium, low-enriched uranium, natural 

2 uranium, off-spec uranium, and UF6.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre4 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(2) Ex5 cept as provided in subsections (b), (c), and 

6 (e)’’ and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATIONS.—Except as provided in 

8 subsections (d), (e), and (g), and subject to para9 graph (3)’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR DETERMINATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PROPOSED DETERMINATION.—Before 

13 making a determination under paragraph 

14 (2)(B), the Secretary shall publish a proposed 

15 determination in the Federal Register pursuant 

16 to a rulemaking under section 553 of title 5, 

17 United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(B) QUALITY OF MARKET ANALYSIS.— 

19 Any market analysis that is prepared by the 

20 Department of Energy, or that the Department 

21 of Energy commissions for the Secretary as 

22 part of the determination process under para23 graph (2)(B), shall be subject to a peer review 

24 process consistent with the guidelines of the Of25 fice of Management and Budget published at 


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1 67 Fed. Reg. 8452–8460 (February 22, 2002) 

2 (or successor guidelines), to ensure and maxi3 mize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integ4 rity of information disseminated by Federal 

5 agencies. 

6 ‘‘(C) WAIVER OF SECRETARIAL DETER7 MINATION.—Beginning on January 1, 2021, the 

8 requirement for a determination by the Sec9 retary under paragraph (2)(B) shall be waived 

10 for transferring, selling, or otherwise providing 

11 uranium by the Secretary if the uranium has 

12 been identified in the updated long-term Fed13 eral excess uranium inventory management plan 

14 under subsection (c)(1).’’; and 

15 (6) in subsection (g) (as redesignated by para16 graph (1)), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

17 by striking ‘‘(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(f)(2)’’. 

Æ 


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