I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8296 

To establish and support advanced nuclear energy research and development 

programs at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. GALLAGHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To establish and support advanced nuclear energy research 

and development programs at the Department of 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 ‘‘Nuclear Energy Reac5 tor Demonstration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Advanced nuclear reactor research and development goals. 

Sec. 4. Advanced fuels development. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8296 IH

1 SEC. 3. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH AND DE2 VELOPMENT GOALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title IX of the En4 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 959A. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH 

7 AND DEVELOPMENT GOALS. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The 

10 term ‘advanced nuclear reactor’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a 

12 prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 

13 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 

14 (or successor regulations)), with significant im15 provements compared to the most recent gen16 eration of fission reactors, including improve17 ments such as— 

18 ‘‘(i) additional inherent safety fea19 tures; 

20 ‘‘(ii) lower waste yields; 

21 ‘‘(iii) improved fuel performance; 

22 ‘‘(iv) increased tolerance to loss of 

23 fuel cooling; 

24 ‘‘(v) enhanced reliability; 

25 ‘‘(vi) increased proliferation resist26 ance; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(vii) increased thermal efficiency; 

2 ‘‘(viii) reduced consumption of cooling 

3 water; 

4 ‘‘(ix) the ability to integrate into elec5 tric applications and nonelectric applica6 tions; 

7 ‘‘(x) modular sizes to allow for deploy8 ment that corresponds with the demand 

9 for electricity; or 

10 ‘‘(xi) operational flexibility to respond 

11 to changes in demand for electricity and to 

12 complement integration with intermittent 

13 renewable energy; and 

14 ‘‘(B) a fusion reactor. 

15 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 

16 ‘demonstration project’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) an advanced nuclear reactor oper18 ated— 

19 ‘‘(i) as part of the power generation 

20 facilities of an electric utility system; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) in any other manner for the pur22 pose of demonstrating the suitability for 

23 commercial application of the advanced nu24 clear reactor; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(B) the demonstration of privately funded 

2 experimental advanced nuclear reactors, funded 

3 in whole or in part by the private sector, at Na4 tional Laboratories or other sites owned by the 

5 Department of Energy; and 

6 ‘‘(C) an advanced nuclear reactor dem7 onstrated by the Secretary of Defense in co8 operation with the Secretary of Energy. 

9 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di10 rect the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date 

11 of enactment of this section, to advance the research and 

12 development of domestic advanced, affordable, and clean 

13 nuclear energy by— 

14 ‘‘(1) demonstrating different advanced nuclear 

15 reactor technologies that could be used by the pri16 vate sector to produce— 

17 ‘‘(A) emission-free power at a levelized cost 

18 of electricity of $60 per megawatt-hour or less; 

19 ‘‘(B) heat for community heating, indus20 trial purposes, or synthetic fuel production; 

21 ‘‘(C) remote or off-grid energy supply; or 

22 ‘‘(D) backup or mission-critical power sup23 plies; 

24 ‘‘(2) developing subgoals for nuclear energy re25 search programs that would accomplish the goals of 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8296 IH

1 the demonstration projects carried out under sub2 section (c); 

3 ‘‘(3) identifying research areas that the private 

4 sector is unable or unwilling to undertake due to the 

5 cost of, or risks associated with, the research; and 

6 ‘‘(4) facilitating the access of the private sec7 tor— 

8 ‘‘(A) to Federal research facilities and per9 sonnel; and 

10 ‘‘(B) to the results of research relating to 

11 civil nuclear technology funded by the Federal 

12 Government. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 

15 maximum extent practicable— 

16 ‘‘(A) enter into agreements to complete not 

17 fewer than two demonstration projects by not 

18 later than December 31, 2025; and 

19 ‘‘(B) establish a program to enter into 

20 agreements to demonstrate not fewer than two, 

21 and not more than five, additional operational 

22 advanced reactor designs by not later than De23 cember 31, 2035. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out dem2 onstration projects under paragraph (1), the Sec3 retary shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) include diversity in designs for the 

5 advanced nuclear reactors demonstrated under 

6 this section, including designs using various— 

7 ‘‘(i) primary coolants; 

8 ‘‘(ii) fuel types and compositions; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) neutron spectra; 

10 ‘‘(B) seek to ensure that— 

11 ‘‘(i) the long-term cost of electricity or 

12 heat for each design to be demonstrated 

13 under this subsection is cost-competitive in 

14 the applicable market; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the selected projects can meet 

16 the deadline established in paragraph (1) 

17 to demonstrate first-of-a-kind advanced 

18 nuclear reactor technologies, for which ad19 ditional information shall be considered, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(I) the technology readiness 

22 level of a proposed advanced nuclear 

23 reactor technology; 

24 ‘‘(II) the technical abilities and 

25 qualifications of teams desiring to 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 8296 IH

1 demonstrate a proposed advanced nu2 clear reactor technology; and 

3 ‘‘(III) the capacity to meet cost4 share requirements of the Depart5 ment; 

6 ‘‘(C) ensure that each evaluation of can7 didate technologies for the demonstration 

8 projects is completed through an external re9 view of proposed designs, which review shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) be conducted by a panel that in11 cludes not fewer than 1 representative of 

12 each of— 

13 ‘‘(I) an electric utility; and 

14 ‘‘(II) an entity that uses high15 temperature process heat for manu16 facturing or industrial processing, 

17 such as a petrochemical company, a 

18 manufacturer of metals, or a manu19 facturer of concrete; 

20 ‘‘(ii) include a review of cost-competi21 tiveness and other value streams, together 

22 with the technology readiness level, of each 

23 design to be demonstrated under this sub24 section; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) not be required for a demonstra2 tion project that is not federally funded; 

3 ‘‘(D) for federally funded demonstration 

4 projects, enter into cost-sharing agreements 

5 with private sector partners in accordance with 

6 section 988 for the conduct of activities relating 

7 to the research, development, and demonstra8 tion of private-sector advanced nuclear reactor 

9 designs under the program; 

10 ‘‘(E) work with private sector partners to 

11 identify potential sites, including Department12 owned sites, for demonstrations, as appropriate; 

13 ‘‘(F) align specific activities carried out 

14 under demonstration projects carried out under 

15 this subsection with priorities identified through 

16 direct consultations between— 

17 ‘‘(i) the Department; 

18 ‘‘(ii) relevant Federal agencies as de19 termined by the Secretary; 

20 ‘‘(iii) National Laboratories; 

21 ‘‘(iv) institutions of higher education; 

22 ‘‘(v) traditional end-users (such as 

23 electric utilities); 

24 ‘‘(vi) potential end-users of new tech25 nologies (such as users of high-temperaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8296.IH H8296

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ture process heat for manufacturing proc2 essing, including petrochemical companies, 

3 manufacturers of metals, or manufacturers 

4 of concrete); and 

5 ‘‘(vii) developers of advanced nuclear 

6 reactor technology; and 

7 ‘‘(G) seek to ensure that the demonstration 

8 projects carried out under paragraph (1) do not 

9 cause any delay in a deployment of an advanced 

10 reactor by private industry and the Department 

11 of Energy that is underway as of the date of 

12 enactment of this section. 

13 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In car14 rying out demonstration projects under paragraph 

15 (1), the Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) identify candidate technologies that— 

17 ‘‘(i) are not developed sufficiently for 

18 demonstration within the initial required 

19 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(A); 

20 but 

21 ‘‘(ii) could be demonstrated within the 

22 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(B); 

23 ‘‘(B) identify technical challenges to the 

24 candidate technologies identified in subpara25 graph (A); 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(C) support near-term research and devel2 opment to address the highest-risk technical 

3 challenges to the successful demonstration of a 

4 selected advanced reactor technology, in accord5 ance with— 

6 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (B); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the research and development ac8 tivities under section 958; and 

9 ‘‘(D) establish such technology advisory 

10 working groups as the Secretary determines to 

11 be appropriate to advise the Secretary regard12 ing the technical challenges identified under 

13 subparagraph (B) and the scope of research 

14 and development programs to address the chal15 lenges, in accordance with subparagraph (C), to 

16 be comprised of— 

17 ‘‘(i) private-sector advanced nuclear 

18 reactor technology developers; 

19 ‘‘(ii) technical experts with respect to 

20 the relevant technologies at institutions of 

21 higher education; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) technical experts at the National 

23 Laboratories. 

24 ‘‘(d) GOALS.— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish goals for research relating to advanced nuclear 

3 reactors facilitated by the Department that support 

4 the objectives of the program for demonstration 

5 projects established under subsection (c). 

6 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—In developing the goals 

7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate, 

8 on an ongoing basis, with members of private indus9 try to advance the demonstration of various designs 

10 of advanced nuclear reactors. 

11 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the goals 

12 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) research activities facilitated by the 

15 Department to meet the goals developed under 

16 this subsection are focused on key areas of nu17 clear research and deployment ranging from 

18 basic science to full-design development, safety 

19 evaluation, and licensing; 

20 ‘‘(B) research programs designed to meet 

21 the goals emphasize— 

22 ‘‘(i) resolving materials challenges re23 lating to extreme environments, including 

24 extremely high levels of— 

25 ‘‘(I) radiation fluence; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(II) temperature; 

2 ‘‘(III) pressure; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) corrosion; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) qualification of advanced fuels; 

5 ‘‘(C) activities are carried out that address 

6 near-term challenges in modeling and simula7 tion to enable accelerated design and licensing; 

8 ‘‘(D) related technologies, such as tech9 nologies to manage, reduce, or reuse nuclear 

10 waste, are developed; 

11 ‘‘(E) nuclear research infrastructure is 

12 maintained or constructed, such as— 

13 ‘‘(i) currently operational research re14 actors at the National Laboratories and in15 stitutions of higher education; 

16 ‘‘(ii) hot cell research facilities; 

17 ‘‘(iii) a versatile fast neutron source; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iv) a molten salt testing facility; 

20 ‘‘(F) basic knowledge of non-light water 

21 coolant physics and chemistry is improved; 

22 ‘‘(G) advanced sensors and control systems 

23 are developed; and 

24 ‘‘(H) advanced manufacturing and ad25 vanced construction techniques and materials 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 8296 IH

1 are investigated to reduce the cost of advanced 

2 nuclear reactors.’’. 

3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

4 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 

5 Stat. 594) is amended— 

6 (1) in the item relating to section 917, by strik7 ing ‘‘Efficiency’’; 

8 (2) in the items relating to sections 957, 958, 

9 and 959, by inserting ‘‘Sec.’’ before ‘‘9’’ each place 

10 it appears; and 

11 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec12 tion 959 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 959A. Advanced nuclear reactor research and development goals.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. ADVANCED FUELS DEVELOPMENT. 

14 Section 953 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

15 U.S.C. 16273) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (d) 

17 as paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (5), respectively, 

18 and indenting appropriately; 

19 (2) in paragraph (1) (as so redesignated)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘this subsection’’; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘minimize environmental’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘improve fuel cycle performance 

24 while minimizing the cost and complexity of 

25 processing, environmental impacts,’’; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 8296 IH

1 (C) by striking ‘‘the Generation IV’’; 

2 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so re3 designated) the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out activi5 ties under the program, the Secretary shall consider 

6 the potential benefits of those activities for civilian 

7 nuclear applications, environmental remediation, and 

8 national security.’’; 

9 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re10 designated) the following: 

11 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 From within funds authorized to be appropriated to 

13 the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear En14 ergy, the Secretary may use to carry out the pro15 gram under this subsection, $40,000,000 for each of 

16 fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’; 

17 (5) by inserting before paragraph (1) (as so re18 designated) the following: 

19 ‘‘(a) MATERIAL RECOVERY AND WASTE FORM DE20 VELOPMENT.—’’; and 

21 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) ADVANCED FUELS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

24 out a program to conduct research relating to— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(A) next-generation light water reactor 

2 fuels that demonstrate improved— 

3 ‘‘(i) performance; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) accident tolerance; and 

5 ‘‘(B) innovative advanced reactor fuels that 

6 demonstrate improved— 

7 ‘‘(i) proliferation resistance; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) use of resources. 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the pro10 gram under this subsection, the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) focus on the development of accident12 tolerant fuel and cladding concepts that are ca13 pable of achieving initial commercialization by 

14 December 31, 2025; 

15 ‘‘(B) conduct studies regarding the means 

16 by which those concepts would impact reactor 

17 economics, the fuel cycle, operations, safety, 

18 and the environment; 

19 ‘‘(C) support a healthy nuclear fuel cycle 

20 capable of providing higher levels of enriched 

21 uranium for domestic advanced nuclear develop22 ment and for national security applications; 

23 ‘‘(D) subject to paragraph (3), publish the 

24 results of the studies conducted under subpara25 graph (B); and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 8296 IH

1 ‘‘(E) cooperate with institutions of higher 

2 education through the Nuclear Energy Univer3 sity and Integrated Research Projects programs 

4 of the Department. 

5 ‘‘(3) SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

6 shall not publish any information under paragraph 

7 (2)(C) that is detrimental to national security, as de8 termined by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 From within funds authorized to be appropriated to 

11 the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear En12 ergy, the Secretary may use to carry out the pro13 gram under this subsection $120,000,000 for each 

14 of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS