I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5260 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy 

to carry out demonstration projects relating to advanced nuclear reactor 

technologies to support domestic energy needs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2018 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the 

Secretary of Energy to carry out demonstration projects 

relating to advanced nuclear reactor technologies to support domestic energy needs. 

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 En5 ergy Technologies Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH AND DE2 VELOPMENT GOALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title VI of the En4 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 

5 782) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 640. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH AND 

7 DEVELOPMENT GOALS. 

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

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

10 term ‘advanced nuclear reactor’ means a nuclear fis11 sion or fusion reactor, including a prototype plant 

12 (as defined in sections 50.2 and 52.1 of title 10, 

13 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula14 tions)), with significant improvements compared to 

15 commercial nuclear reactors under construction as of 

16 the date of enactment of this section, including im17 provements such as— 

18 ‘‘(A) additional inherent safety features; 

19 ‘‘(B) a significantly lower levelized cost of 

20 electricity; 

21 ‘‘(C) lower waste yields; 

22 ‘‘(D) improved fuel performance; 

23 ‘‘(E) increased tolerance to loss of fuel 

24 cooling; 

25 ‘‘(F) enhanced reliability; 

26 ‘‘(G) increased proliferation resistance; 


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1 ‘‘(H) increased thermal efficiency; 

2 ‘‘(I) reduced consumption of cooling water; 

3 ‘‘(J) the ability to integrate into electric 

4 applications and nonelectric applications; 

5 ‘‘(K) modular sizes to allow for deployment 

6 that corresponds with the demand for elec7 tricity; or 

8 ‘‘(L) operational flexibility to respond to 

9 changes in demand for electricity and to com10 plement integration with intermittent renewable 

11 energy. 

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

13 ‘demonstration project’ means an advanced nuclear 

14 reactor operated— 

15 ‘‘(A) as part of the power generation facili16 ties of an electric utility system; or 

17 ‘‘(B) in any other manner for the purpose 

18 of demonstrating the suitability for commercial 

19 application of the advanced nuclear reactor. 

20 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di21 rect the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date 

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

23 development of domestic advanced, affordable, and clean 

24 nuclear energy by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) demonstrating different advanced nuclear 

2 reactor technologies that could be used by the pri3 vate sector to produce— 

4 ‘‘(A) emission-free power at a cost of $65– 

5 $70 per mWh or less; 

6 ‘‘(B) heat for industrial purposes or syn7 thetic fuel production; 

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

9 ‘‘(D) backup or mission-critical power sup10 plies; 

11 ‘‘(2) developing goals for nuclear energy re12 search programs that would accomplish the goals of 

13 the demonstration projects carried out under sub14 section (c); 

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

16 sector is unable or unwilling to undertake due to the 

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

18 ‘‘(4) facilitating the access of the private sec19 tor— 

20 ‘‘(A) to Federal research facilities; and 

21 ‘‘(B) to the results of research funded by 

22 the Federal Government. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the period begin25 ning on the date of enactment of this section and 


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1 ending on September 30, 2028, the Secretary shall, 

2 to the maximum extent practicable, enter into one or 

3 more agreements to carry out not fewer than 4 ad4 vanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out dem6 onstration projects under paragraph (1), the Sec7 retary shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) seek to include diversity in designs 

9 for the advanced nuclear reactors demonstrated 

10 under this section, including designs using var11 ious primary coolants; 

12 ‘‘(B) seek to ensure that— 

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

14 heat for each design to be demonstrated 

15 under this subsection is cost-competitive in 

16 the applicable market; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the cost-competitiveness of each 

18 design to be demonstrated under this sub19 section is verified by an external review of 

20 the proposed design; 

21 ‘‘(C) enter into cost-sharing agreements 

22 with partners in accordance with section 988 

23 for the conduct of activities relating to the re24 search, development, and demonstration of priVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Mar 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5260.IH H5260

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1 vate-sector advanced nuclear reactor designs 

2 under the program; 

3 ‘‘(D) work with private sector partners to 

4 identify potential sites, including Department5 owned sites, for demonstrations, as appropriate; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(E) align specific activities carried out 

8 under demonstration projects carried out under 

9 this subsection with priorities identified through 

10 direct consultations between— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Department; 

12 ‘‘(ii) National Laboratories; 

13 ‘‘(iii) traditional end-users (such as 

14 electric utilities); 

15 ‘‘(iv) potential end-users of new tech16 nologies (such as petrochemical compa17 nies); and 

18 ‘‘(v) developers of advanced nuclear 

19 reactor technology. 

20 ‘‘(d) GOALS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab22 lish goals for research relating to advanced nuclear 

23 reactors facilitated by the Department that support 

24 the objectives of the program for demonstration 

25 projects established under subsection (c). 


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

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

3 on an ongoing basis, with members of private indus4 try to advance the demonstration of various designs 

5 of advanced nuclear reactors. 

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

7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(A) research activities facilitated by the 

10 Department to meet the goals developed under 

11 this subsection are focused on key areas of nu12 clear research and deployment ranging from 

13 basic energy to full-design development, safety 

14 evaluation, and licensing; 

15 ‘‘(B) research programs designed to meet 

16 the goals emphasize— 

17 ‘‘(i) resolving materials challenges re18 lating to radiation damage or corrosive 

19 coolants; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) qualification of advanced fuels; 

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

22 near-term challenges in modeling and simula23 tion to enable accelerated design and licensing; 

24 ‘‘(D) related technologies, such as electro25 chemical processing or fuel recycling that could 


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1 reduce nuclear waste volumes or half lives, are 

2 developed; 

3 ‘‘(E) infrastructure, such as a versatile 

4 fast neutron source or molten salt testing facil5 ity, to aid in research are constructed; 

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

7 coolant physics and chemistry is improved; and 

8 ‘‘(G) advanced manufacturing and con9 struction techniques and materials are inves10 tigated to reduce the commercialization cost of 

11 advanced nuclear reactors.’’. 

12 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

13 of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 

14 109–58; 119 Stat. 594) is amended by inserting after the 

15 item relating to section 639 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 640. Advanced nuclear reactor research and development goals.’’. 

Æ 


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