II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 590 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

FEBRUARY 10, 2017 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

AN ACT 

To foster civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies and enhance the licensing and 

commercial deployment of such technologies. 

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 

5 Technology Development Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Nuclear energy generates approximately 20 

9 percent of the total electricity and approximately 60 


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1 percent of the carbon-free electricity of the United 

2 States. 

3 (2) Nuclear power plants operate consistently at 

4 a 90 percent capacity factor, and provide consumers 

5 and businesses with reliable and affordable elec6 tricity. 

7 (3) Nuclear power plants generate billions of 

8 dollars in national economic activity through nation9 wide procurements and provide thousands of Ameri10 cans with high paying jobs contributing substantially 

11 to the local economies in communities where they 

12 operate. 

13 (4) The United States commercial nuclear in14 dustry must continue to lead the international civil15 ian nuclear marketplace, because it is one of our 

16 most powerful national security tools, guaranteeing 

17 the safe, secure, and exclusively peaceful use of nu18 clear energy. 

19 (5) Maintaining the Nation’s nuclear fleet of 

20 commercial light water reactors and expanding the 

21 use of new advanced reactor designs would support 

22 continued production of reliable baseload electricity 

23 and maintain United States global leadership in nu24 clear power. 


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1 (6) Nuclear fusion technology also has the po2 tential to generate electricity with significantly in3 creased safety performance and no radioactive waste. 

4 (7) The development of advanced reactor de5 signs would benefit from a performance-based, risk6 informed, efficient, and cost-effective regulatory 

7 framework with defined milestones and the oppor8 tunity for applicants to demonstrate progress 

9 through Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The term 

13 ‘‘advanced nuclear reactor’’ means— 

14 (A) a nuclear fission reactor with signifi15 cant improvements over the most recent genera16 tion of nuclear fission reactors, which may in17 clude inherent safety features, lower waste 

18 yields, greater fuel utilization, superior reli19 ability, resistance to proliferation, and increased 

20 thermal efficiency; or 

21 (B) a nuclear fusion reactor. 

22 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

23 means the Department of Energy. 

24 (3) LICENSING.—The term ‘‘licensing’’ means 

25 NRC activities related to reviewing applications for 


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1 licenses, permits, and design certifications, and re2 quests for any other regulatory approval for nuclear 

3 reactors within the responsibilities of the NRC under 

4 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. 

5 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na6 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 

7 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

8 U.S.C. 15801). 

9 (5) NRC.—The term ‘‘NRC’’ means the Nu10 clear Regulatory Commission. 

11 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Energy. 

13 SEC. 4. AGENCY COORDINATION. 

14 The NRC and the Department shall enter into the 

15 a memorandum of understanding regarding the following 

16 topics: 

17 (1) TECHNICAL EXPERTISE.—Ensuring that 

18 the Department has sufficient technical expertise to 

19 support the civilian nuclear industry’s timely re20 search, development, demonstration, and commercial 

21 application of safe, innovative advanced reactor tech22 nology and the NRC has sufficient technical exper23 tise to support the evaluation of applications for li24 censes, permits, and design certifications, and other 


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1 requests for regulatory approval for advanced reac2 tors. 

3 (2) MODELING AND SIMULATION.—The use of 

4 computers and software codes to calculate the behav5 ior and performance of advanced reactors based on 

6 mathematical models of their physical behavior. 

7 (3) FACILITIES.—Ensuring that the Depart8 ment maintains and develops the facilities to enable 

9 the civilian nuclear industry’s timely research, devel10 opment, demonstration, and commercial application 

11 of safe, innovative reactor technology and ensuring 

12 that the NRC has access to such facilities, as need13 ed. 

14 SEC. 5. ADVANCED REACTOR REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. 

15 (a) PLAN REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the NRC shall transmit 

17 to Congress a plan for developing an efficient, risk-in18 formed, technology-neutral framework for advanced reac19 tor licensing. The plan shall evaluate the following sub20 jects, consistent with the NRC’s role in protecting public 

21 health and safety and common defense and security: 

22 (1) The unique aspects of advanced reactor li23 censing and any associated legal, regulatory, and 

24 policy issues the NRC will need to address to de25 velop a framework for licensing advanced reactors. 


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1 (2) Options for licensing advanced reactors 

2 under existing NRC regulations in title 10 of the 

3 Code of Federal Regulations, a proposed new regu4 latory framework, or a combination of these ap5 proaches. 

6 (3) Options to expedite and streamline the li7 censing of advanced reactors, including opportunities 

8 to minimize the time from application submittal to 

9 final NRC licensing decision and minimize the 

10 delays that may result from any necessary amend11 ments or supplements to applications. 

12 (4) Options to expand the incorporation of con13 sensus-based codes and standards into the advanced 

14 reactor regulatory framework to minimize time to 

15 completion and provide flexibility in implementation. 

16 (5) Options to make the advanced reactor li17 censing framework more predictable. This evaluation 

18 should consider opportunities to improve the process 

19 by which application review milestones are estab20 lished and maintained. 

21 (6) Options to allow applicants to use phased 

22 review processes under which the NRC issues ap23 provals that do not require the NRC to re-review 

24 previously approved information. This evaluation 

25 shall consider the NRC’s ability to review and condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:12 Feb 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H590.RCS H590

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1 tionally approve partial applications, early design in2 formation, and submittals that contain design cri3 teria and processes to be used to develop information 

4 to support a later phase of the design review. 

5 (7) The extent to which NRC action or modi6 fication of policy is needed to implement any part of 

7 the plan required by this subsection. 

8 (8) The role of licensing advanced reactors 

9 within NRC long-term strategic resource planning, 

10 staffing, and funding levels. 

11 (9) Options to provide cost-sharing financial 

12 structures for license applicants in a phased licens13 ing process. 

14 (b) COORDINATION AND STAKEHOLDER INPUT RE15 QUIRED.—In developing the plan required by subsection 

16 (a), the NRC shall seek input from the Department, the 

17 nuclear industry, and other public stakeholders. 

18 (c) COST AND SCHEDULE ESTIMATE.—The plan re19 quired by subsection (a) shall include proposed cost esti20 mates, budgets, and specific milestones for implementing 

21 the advanced reactor regulatory framework by September 

22 30, 2019. 

23 (d) DESIGN CERTIFICATION STATUS.—In the NRC’s 

24 first budget request after the acceptance of any design cer25 tification application for an advanced nuclear reactor, and 


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1 annually thereafter, the NRC shall provide the status of 

2 performance metrics and milestone schedules. The budget 

3 request shall include a plan to correct or recover from any 

4 milestone schedule delays, including delays because of 

5 NRC’s inability to commit resources for its review of the 

6 design certification applications. 

7 SEC. 6. USER FEES AND ANNUAL CHARGES. 

8 Section 6101(c)(2)(A) of the Omnibus Budget Rec9 onciliation Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 2214(c)(2)(A)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iii); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

13 (iv) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(v) for fiscal years ending before Oc16 tober 1, 2020, amounts appropriated to 

17 the Commission for activities related to the 

18 development of regulatory infrastructure 

19 for advanced nuclear reactor tech20 nologies.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 23, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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