I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6253 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make awards to cover regulatory 

costs relating to licensing certain first-of-a-kind advanced nuclear reactors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. CURTIS (for himself and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make awards to 

cover regulatory costs relating to licensing certain firstof-a-kind advanced nuclear reactors. 

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 ‘‘Advanced Nuclear Re5 actor Prize Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR PRIZES. 

7 Section 103 of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and 

8 Modernization Act (Public Law 115–439; 132 Stat. 5571) 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) PRIZES FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR LI2 CENSING.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In 

4 this subsection, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a non-Federal entity; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Tennessee Valley Authority. 

7 ‘‘(2) PRIZE FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR

8 LICENSING.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec10 tion 169 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

11 U.S.C. 2209) and subject to the availability of 

12 appropriations, the Secretary is authorized to 

13 make, with respect to each award category de14 scribed in subparagraph (C), an award in an 

15 amount described in subparagraph (B) to the 

16 first eligible entity— 

17 ‘‘(i) to which the Commission issues 

18 an operating license for an advanced nu19 clear reactor under part 50 of title 10, 

20 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 

21 regulations), for which an application has 

22 not been approved by the Commission as 

23 of the date of enactment of this subsection; 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for which the Commission makes 

2 a finding described in section 52.103(g) of 

3 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

4 successor regulations), with respect to a 

5 combined license for an advanced nuclear 

6 reactor— 

7 ‘‘(I) that is issued under subpart 

8 C of part 52 of that title (or successor 

9 regulations); and 

10 ‘‘(II) for which an application 

11 has not been approved by the Com12 mission as of the date of enactment of 

13 this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF AWARD.—Subject to 

15 paragraph (3), an award under subparagraph 

16 (A) shall be in an amount equal to the total 

17 amount assessed by the Commission and col18 lected under section 102(b)(2) from the eligible 

19 entity receiving the award for costs relating to 

20 the issuance of the license described in that 

21 subparagraph, including, as applicable, costs re22 lating to the issuance of an associated construc23 tion permit described in section 50.23 of title 

24 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 

25 regulations), or early site permit (as defined in 


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1 section 52.1 of that title (or successor regula2 tions)). 

3 ‘‘(C) AWARD CATEGORIES.—An award 

4 under subparagraph (A) may be made for— 

5 ‘‘(i) the first advanced nuclear reactor 

6 for which the Commission— 

7 ‘‘(I) issues a license in accord8 ance with clause (i) of subparagraph 

9 (A); or 

10 ‘‘(II) makes a finding in accord11 ance with clause (ii) of that subpara12 graph; 

13 ‘‘(ii) an advanced nuclear reactor 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(I) uses isotopes derived from 

16 spent nuclear fuel (as defined in sec17 tion 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy 

18 Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101)) or 

19 depleted uranium as fuel for the ad20 vanced nuclear reactor; and 

21 ‘‘(II) is the first advanced nu22 clear reactor described in subclause 

23 (I) for which the Commission— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) issues a license in ac2 cordance with clause (i) of sub3 paragraph (A); or 

4 ‘‘(bb) makes a finding in ac5 cordance with clause (ii) of that 

6 subparagraph; 

7 ‘‘(iii) an advanced nuclear reactor 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(I) is a nuclear integrated en10 ergy system— 

11 ‘‘(aa) that is composed of 2 

12 or more co-located or jointly op13 erated subsystems of energy gen14 eration, energy storage, or other 

15 technologies; 

16 ‘‘(bb) in which not fewer 

17 than 1 subsystem described in 

18 item (aa) is a nuclear energy sys19 tem; and 

20 ‘‘(cc) the purpose of which 

21 is— 

22 ‘‘(AA) to reduce green23 house gas emissions in both 

24 the power and nonpower sec25 tors; and 


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1 ‘‘(BB) to maximize en2 ergy production and effi3 ciency; and 

4 ‘‘(II) is the first advanced nu5 clear reactor described in subclause 

6 (I) for which the Commission— 

7 ‘‘(aa) issues a license in ac8 cordance with clause (i) of sub9 paragraph (A); or 

10 ‘‘(bb) makes a finding in ac11 cordance with clause (ii) of that 

12 subparagraph; 

13 ‘‘(iv) an advanced reactor that— 

14 ‘‘(I) operates flexibly to generate 

15 electricity or high temperature process 

16 heat for nonelectric applications; and 

17 ‘‘(II) is the first advanced nu18 clear reactor described in subclause 

19 (I) for which the Commission— 

20 ‘‘(aa) issues a license in ac21 cordance with clause (i) of sub22 paragraph (A); or 

23 ‘‘(bb) makes a finding in ac24 cordance with clause (ii) of that 

25 subparagraph; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) the first advanced nuclear reactor 

2 for which the Commission grants approval 

3 to load nuclear fuel pursuant to the tech4 nology-inclusive regulatory framework es5 tablished under subsection (a)(4). 

6 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL FUNDING LIMITATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) EXCLUSION OF TVA FUNDS.—In this 

8 paragraph, the term ‘Federal funds’ does not 

9 include funds received under the power program 

10 of the Tennessee Valley Authority established 

11 pursuant to the Tennessee Valley Authority Act 

12 of 1933 (16 U.S.C. 831 et seq.). 

13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS EX14 PENDED.—An award under this subsection 

15 shall not exceed the total amount expended (ex16 cluding any expenditures made with Federal 

17 funds received for the applicable project and an 

18 amount equal to the minimum cost-share re19 quired under section 988 of the Energy Policy 

20 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352)) by the eligible 

21 entity receiving the award for licensing costs re22 lating to the project for which the award is 

23 made. 

24 ‘‘(C) REPAYMENTS AND DIVIDENDS NOT

25 REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding section 


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1 9104(a)(4) of title 31, United States Code, or 

2 any other provision of law, an eligible entity 

3 that received an award under this subsection 

4 shall not be required— 

5 ‘‘(i) to repay that award or any part 

6 of that award; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) to pay a dividend, interest, or 

8 other similar payment based on the sum of 

9 that award.’’. 

Æ 


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