I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1482 

To provide for the research and development of advanced nuclear reactor, 

solar energy, and wind energy technologies for the production of hydrogen, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2005 

Mr. WYNN (for himself and Mr. SHIMKUS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the research and development of advanced 

nuclear reactor, solar energy, and wind energy technologies for the production of hydrogen, 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 referred to as the ‘‘Hydrogen Lib5 erty Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. HYDROGEN PRODUCTION PROGRAMS. 

2 (a) ADVANCED REACTOR HYDROGEN COGENERA3 TION PROJECT.— 

4 (1) PROJECT ESTABLISHMENT.— The Sec5 retary is directed to establish an Advanced Reactor 

6 Hydrogen Cogeneration Project. 

7 (2) PROJECT DEFINITION.— The project shall 

8 consist of the research, development, design, con9 struction, and operation of a hydrogen production 

10 cogeneration research facility that, relative to the 

11 current commercial reactors, enhances safety fea12 tures, reduces waste production, enhances thermal 

13 efficiencies, increases proliferation resistance, and 

14 has the potential for improved economics and phys15 ical security in reactor siting. This facility shall be 

16 constructed so as to enable research and develop17 ment on advanced reactors of the type selected and 

18 on alternative approaches for reactor-based produc19 tion of hydrogen. 

20 (3) PROJECT MANAGEMENT.— 

21 (A) MANAGEMENT.—The project shall be 

22 managed within the Department by the Office 

23 of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology. 

24 (B) LEAD LABORATORY.—The lead labora25 tory for the project, providing the site for the 

26 reactor construction, shall be the Idaho Na-
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1 tional Laboratory (in this subsection referred to 

2 as ‘‘INL’’). 

3 (C) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The Sec4 retary shall establish a national steering com5 mittee with membership from the national lab6 oratories, universities, and industry to provide 

7 advice to the Secretary and the Director of the 

8 Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, and Tech9 nology on technical and program management 

10 aspects of the project. 

11 (D) COLLABORATION.—Project activities 

12 shall be conducted at INL, other national lab13 oratories, universities, domestic industry, and 

14 international partners. 

15 (4) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (A) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The project shall 

18 include planning, research and develop19 ment, design, and construction of an ad20 vanced, next-generation, nuclear energy 

21 system suitable for enabling further re22 search and development on advanced reac23 tor technologies and alternative approaches 

24 for reactor-based generation of hydrogen. 
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1 (ii) REACTOR TEST CAPABILITIES AT

2 INL.—The project shall utilize, where ap3 propriate, extensive reactor test capabilities 

4 resident at INL. 

5 (iii) ALTERNATIVES.—The project 

6 shall be designed to explore technical, envi7 ronmental, and economic feasibility of al8 ternative approaches for reactor-based hy9 drogen production. 

10 (iv) INDUSTRIAL LEAD.—The indus11 trial lead for the project shall be a com12 pany incorporated in the United States. 

13 (B) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 seek international cooperation, participa16 tion, and financial contribution in this 

17 project. 

18 (ii) ASSISTANCE FROM INTER19 NATIONAL PARTNERS.—The Secretary may 

20 contract for assistance from specialists or 

21 facilities from member countries of the 

22 Generation IV International Forum, the 

23 Russian Federation, or other international 

24 partners where such specialists or facilities 
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1 provide access to cost-effective and relevant 

2 skills or test capabilities. 

3 (iii) GENERATION IV INTERNATIONAL

4 FORUM.—International activities shall be 

5 coordinated with the Generation IV Inter6 national Forum. 

7 (iv) GENERATION IV NUCLEAR EN8 ERGY SYSTEMS PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

9 may combine this project with the Genera10 tion IV Nuclear Energy Systems Program. 

11 (C) DEMONSTRATION.—The overall 

12 project, which may involve demonstration of se13 lected project objectives in a partner nation, 

14 must demonstrate both electricity and hydrogen 

15 production and may provide flexibility, where 

16 technically and economically feasible in the de17 sign and construction, to enable tests of alter18 native reactor core and cooling configurations. 

19 (D) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary shall 

20 establish cost-shared partnerships with domestic 

21 industry or international participants for the re22 search, development, design, construction, and 

23 operation of the research facility, and pref24 erence in determining the final project structure 

25 shall be given to an overall project which re-
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1 tains United States leadership while maximizing 

2 cost sharing opportunities and minimizing Fed3 eral funding responsibilities. 

4 (E) TARGET DATE.—The Secretary shall 

5 select technologies and develop the project to 

6 provide initial testing of either hydrogen pro7 duction or electricity generation by 2011, or 

8 provide a report to Congress explaining why 

9 this date is not feasible. 

10 (F) WAIVER OF CONSTRUCTION

11 TIMELINES.—The Secretary is authorized to 

12 conduct the Advanced Reactor Hydrogen Co13 generation Project without the constraints of 

14 DOE Order 413.3, relating to program and 

15 project management for the acquisition of cap16 ital assets, as necessary to meet the specified 

17 operational date. 

18 (G) COMPETITION.—The Secretary may 

19 fund up to 2 teams for up to 1 year to develop 

20 detailed proposals for competitive evaluation 

21 and selection of a single proposal and concept 

22 for further progress. The Secretary shall define 

23 the format of the competitive evaluation of pro24 posals. 
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1 (H) USE OF FACILITIES.—Research facili2 ties in industry, national laboratories, or univer3 sities either within the United States or with 

4 cooperating international partners may be used 

5 to develop the enabling technologies for the re6 search facility. Utilization of domestic univer7 sity-based facilities shall be encouraged to pro8 vide educational opportunities for student devel9 opment. 

10 (I) ROLE OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY COM11 MISSION.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Nuclear Regu13 latory Commission shall have licensing and 

14 regulatory authority for any reactor au15 thorized under this subsection, pursuant to 

16 section 202 of the Energy Reorganization 

17 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5842). 

18 (ii) RISK-BASED CRITERIA.—The Sec19 retary shall seek active participation of the 

20 Nuclear Regulatory Commission through21 out the project to develop risk-based cri22 teria for any future commercial develop23 ment of a similar reactor architecture. 

24 (J) REPORT.—The Secretary shall develop 

25 and transmit to Congress a comprehensive 
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1 project plan not later than 3 months after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. The project plan 

3 shall be updated annually with each annual 

4 budget submission. 

5 (b) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR TECH6 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall— 

7 (1) prepare a detailed roadmap for carrying out 

8 the provisions in this Act related to advanced nu9 clear reactor technologies and for implementing the 

10 recommendations related to advanced nuclear reac11 tor technologies that are included in the report 

12 transmitted under subsection (f); and 

13 (2) provide for the establishment of 5 projects 

14 in geographic areas that are regionally and climati15 cally diverse to demonstrate the commercial produc16 tion of hydrogen at existing nuclear power plants, 

17 including one demonstration project at a national 

18 laboratory or institution of higher education using 

19 an advanced gas-cooled reactor. 

20 (c) COLLOCATION WITH HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

21 FACILITY.—Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 

22 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘g. The Commission shall give priority to the licens25 ing of a utilization facility that is collocated with a hydro-
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1 gen production facility. The Commission shall issue a final 

2 decision approving or disapproving the issuance of a li3 cense to construct and operate a utilization facility not 

4 later than the expiration of 2 years after the date of the 

5 submission of such application, if the application ref6 erences a Commission-certified design and an early site 

7 permit, unless the Commission determines that the appli8 cant has proposed material and substantial changes to the 

9 design or the site design parameters.’’. 

10 (d) SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.—The Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 (1) prepare a detailed roadmap for carrying out 

13 the provisions in this Act related to solar energy 

14 technologies and for implementing the recommenda15 tions related to solar energy technologies that are in16 cluded in the report transmitted under subsection 

17 (f); 

18 (2) provide for the establishment of 5 projects 

19 in geographic areas that are regionally and climati20 cally diverse to demonstrate the production of hydro21 gen at solar energy facilities, including one dem22 onstration project at a national laboratory or institu23 tion of higher education; 

24 (3) establish a research and development pro25 gram— 
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1 (A) to develop optimized concentrating 

2 solar power devices that may be used for the 

3 production of both electricity and hydrogen; and 

4 (B) to evaluate the use of thermochemical 

5 cycles for hydrogen production at the tempera6 tures attainable with concentrating solar power 

7 devices; 

8 (4) coordinate with activities sponsored by the 

9 Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, 

10 Science, and Technology on high-temperature mate11 rials, thermochemical cycles, and economic issues re12 lated to solar energy; 

13 (5) provide for the construction and operation 

14 of new concentrating solar power devices or solar 

15 power cogeneration facilities that produce hydrogen 

16 either concurrently with, or independently of, the 

17 production of electricity; 

18 (6) support existing facilities and research pro19 grams dedicated to the development and advance20 ment of concentrating solar power devices; and 

21 (7) establish a program— 

22 (A) to research and develop methods that 

23 use electricity from photovoltaic devices for the 

24 onsite production of hydrogen, such that no in25 termediate transmission or distribution infra-
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1 structure is required or used and future de2 mand growth may be accommodated; 

3 (B) to evaluate the economics of small4 scale electrolysis for hydrogen production; and 

5 (C) to research the potential of modular 

6 photovoltaic devices for the development of a 

7 hydrogen infrastructure, the security implica8 tions of a hydrogen infrastructure, and the ben9 efits potentially derived from a hydrogen infra10 structure. 

11 (e) WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES.—The Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 (1) prepare a detailed roadmap for carrying out 

14 the provisions in this Act related to wind energy 

15 technologies and for implementing the recommenda16 tions related to wind energy technologies that are in17 cluded in the report transmitted under subsection 

18 (f); and 

19 (2) provide for the establishment of 5 projects 

20 in geographic areas that are regionally and climati21 cally diverse to demonstrate the production of hydro22 gen at existing wind energy facilities, including one 

23 demonstration project at a national laboratory or in24 stitution of higher education. 
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1 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall transmit to the 

2 Congress not later than 120 days after the date of enact3 ment of this Act a report containing detailed summaries 

4 of the roadmaps prepared under subsections (b)(1), 

5 (d)(1), and (e)(1), descriptions of the Secretary’s progress 

6 in establishing the projects and other programs required 

7 under this section, and recommendations for promoting 

8 the availability of advanced nuclear reactor energy tech9 nologies, solar energy technologies, and wind energy tech10 nologies for the production of hydrogen. 

11 SEC. 3. HYDROGEN PRODUCTION RESEARCH. 

12 (a) PROGRAM SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall sup13 port research programs at institutions of higher education 

14 for the development of advanced nuclear reactor energy 

15 technologies, solar energy technologies, and wind energy 

16 technologies for the production of hydrogen. The research 

17 programs supported under this section shall— 

18 (1) enhance fellowship and faculty assistance 

19 programs; 

20 (2) provide support for fundamental research; 

21 (3) encourage collaborative research among in22 dustry, national laboratories, and institutions of 

23 higher education; 

24 (4) support communication and outreach; and 

25 (5) to the greatest extent possible— 
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1 (A) be located in geographic areas that are 

2 regionally and climatically diverse; and 

3 (B) be located at part B institutions, mi4 nority institutions, and institutions of higher 

5 education located in States participating in the 

6 Experimental Program to Stimulate Competi7 tive Research of the Department of Energy. 

8 (b) NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH PROGRAMS.—Re9 search programs supported under this section that are re10 lated to advanced nuclear reactor technologies— 

11 (1) shall be programs that research designs for 

12 nuclear reactors capable of producing hydrogen from 

13 a variety of feedstocks; 

14 (2) may provide technical assistance, in collabo15 ration with the United States civilian nuclear indus16 try, to relicense and upgrade research nuclear reac17 tors at institutions of higher education involved in 

18 such programs; 

19 (3) may use funding authorized under sub20 section (d)(1) for improvements of research nuclear 

21 reactors at institutions of higher education involved 

22 in such programs as part of a focused effort that 

23 emphasizes research, training, and education; and 

24 (4) may use funding authorized under sub25 section (d)(1) to offset a portion of the operating 
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1 and maintenance costs of a research nuclear reactor 

2 at an institution of higher education involved in one 

3 of such programs. 

4 (c) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND NA5 TIONAL LABORATORY INTERACTIONS.—In conjunction 

6 with the programs supported under this section, the Sec7 retary shall develop sabbatical, fellowship, and visiting sci8 entist programs to encourage national laboratories and in9 stitutions of higher education to share and exchange per10 sonnel. 

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR TECH13 NOLOGIES RESEARCH PROGRAMS.—For the purpose 

14 of supporting research programs related to the de15 velopment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies 

16 under this section, there are authorized to be appro17 priated to the Secretary— 

18 (A) $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

19 (B) $74,750,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

20 (C) $85,962,500 for fiscal year 2008; 

21 (D) $98,856,875 for fiscal year 2009; 

22 (E) $113,685,406 for fiscal year 2010; 

23 (F) $130,738,217 for fiscal year 2011; 

24 (G) $150,348,950 for fiscal year 2012; 

25 (H) $172,901,292 for fiscal year 2013; 
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1 (I) $198,836,486 for fiscal year 2014; and 

2 (J) $228,661,959 for fiscal year 2015. 

3 (2) SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH

4 PROGRAMS.—For the purpose of supporting research 

5 programs related to the development of solar energy 

6 technologies under this section, there are authorized 

7 to be appropriated to the Secretary— 

8 (A) $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

9 (B) $74,750,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

10 (C) $85,962,500 for fiscal year 2008; 

11 (D) $98,856,875 for fiscal year 2009; 

12 (E) $113,685,406 for fiscal year 2010; 

13 (F) $130,738,217 for fiscal year 2011; 

14 (G) $150,348,950 for fiscal year 2012; 

15 (H) $172,901,292 for fiscal year 2013; 

16 (I) $198,836,486 for fiscal year 2014; and 

17 (J) $228,661,959 for fiscal year 2015. 

18 (3) WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH

19 PROGRAMS.—For the purpose of supporting research 

20 programs related to the development of wind energy 

21 technologies under this section, there are authorized 

22 to be appropriated to the Secretary— 

23 (A) $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

24 (B) $74,750,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

25 (C) $85,962,500 for fiscal year 2008; 
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1 (D) $98,856,875 for fiscal year 2009; 

2 (E) $113,685,406 for fiscal year 2010; 

3 (F) $130,738,217 for fiscal year 2011; 

4 (G) $150,348,950 for fiscal year 2012; 

5 (H) $172,901,292 for fiscal year 2013; 

6 (I) $198,836,486 for fiscal year 2014; and 

7 (J) $228,661,959 for fiscal year 2015. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For purposes of this Act— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘advanced nuclear reactor tech11 nologies’’ means— 

12 (A) technologies related to advanced light 

13 water reactors that may be commercially avail14 able in the near-term, including mid-sized reac15 tors with passive safety features, for the gen16 eration of electric power from nuclear fission 

17 and the production of hydrogen; and 

18 (B) technologies related to other nuclear 

19 reactors that may require prototype demonstra20 tion prior to availability in the mid-term or 

21 long-term, including high-temperature, gas22 cooled reactors and liquid metal reactors, for 

23 the generation of electric power from nuclear 

24 fission and the production of hydrogen; 
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1 (2) the term ‘‘concentrating solar power de2 vices’’ means devices that concentrate the power of 

3 the sun by reflection or refraction to improve the ef4 ficiency of a photovoltaic or thermal generation proc5 ess; 

6 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

7 has the meaning given to that term in section 

8 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 1001(a)); 

10 (4) the term ‘‘minority institution’’ has the 

11 meaning given to that term in section 365 of the 

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067k); 

13 (5) the term ‘‘part B institution’’ has the mean14 ing given to that term in section 322 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061); 

16 (6) the term ‘‘photovoltaic devices’’ means de17 vices that convert light directly into electricity 

18 through a solid-state, semiconductor process; and 

19 (7) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

20 of Energy. 

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