II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2162

To renew the authority of the Department of Energy to indemnify its contractors and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to indemnify its licensees

for damages resulting from nuclear incidents; to amend the Department

of Energy’s authority to impose civil penalties on its nonprofit contractors; and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 2, 2000

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and

Natural Resources

A BILL

To renew the authority of the Department of Energy to

indemnify its contractors and the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission to indemnify its licensees for damages resulting from nuclear incidents; to amend the Department

of Energy’s authority to impose civil penalties on its

nonprofit contractors; 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 ‘‘Price-Anderson

5 Amendments Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INDEMNIFICATION AUTHORITY.

2 (a) INDEMNIFICATION OF NRC LICENSEES.—Section

3 170 c. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

4 2210(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘August 1, 2002’’ each

5 place it appears and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2012’’.

6 (b) INDEMNIFICATION OF DOE CONTRACTORS.—

7 Section 170 d.(1)(A) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

8 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘, until

9 August 1, 2002,’’.

10 (c) INDEMNIFICATION OF NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL

11 INSTITUTIONS.—Section 170 k. of the Atomic Energy Act

12 of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(k)) is amended by striking ‘‘Au13 gust 1, 2002’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘August

14 1, 2012’’.

15 SEC. 3. MAXIMUM ASSESSMENT.

16 Section 170 b.(1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

17 (42 U.S.C. 2210(b)(1)) is amended by striking

18 ‘‘$10,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$20,000,000’’.

19 SEC. 4. DOE LIABILITY LIMIT.

20 (a) AGGREGATE LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170 d.

21 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d))

22 is amended by striking subsection (2) and inserting the

23 following:

24 ‘‘(2) In agreements of indemnification entered

25 into under paragraph (1), the Secretary—
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1 ‘‘(A) may require the contractor to provide

2 and maintain financial protection of such a type

3 and in such amounts as the Secretary shall de4 termine to be appropriate to cover public liabil5 ity arising out of or in connection with the con6 tractual activity, and

7 ‘‘(B) shall indemnify the persons indem8 nified against such claims above the amount of

9 the financial protection required, in the amount

10 of $10,000,000,000 (subject to adjustment for

11 inflation under subsection t.), in the aggregate,

12 for all persons indemnified in connection with

13 such contract and for each nuclear incident, in14 cluding such legal costs of the contractor as are

15 approved by the Secretary.

16 (b) CONTRACT AMENDMENTS.—Section 170 d. of the

17 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is further

18 amended by striking subsection (3) and inserting the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(3) All agreements of indemnification under

21 which the Department of Energy (or its precedessor

22 agencies) may be required to indemnify any person,

23 shall be deemed to be amended, on the date of the

24 enactment of the Price-Anderson Amendments Act

25 of 1999, to reflect the amount of indemnity for pub-
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1 lic liability and any applicable financial protection

2 required of the contractor under this subsection on

3 such date.’’.

4 SEC. 5. INCIDENTS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

5 (a) AMOUNT OF INDEMNIFICATION.—Section 170

6 d.(5) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

7 2210(d)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘$500,000,000’’.

9 (b) LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170e.(4) of the Atom10 ic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(4)) is amended

11 by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘$500,000,000’’.

13 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

14 Section 170 p. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

15 U.S.C. 2210(p)) is amended by striking ‘‘August 1, 1998’’

16 and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2008’’.

17 SEC. 7. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.

18 Section 170 t. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

19 U.S.C. 2210(t)) is amended—

20 (1) by renumbering paragraph (2) as paragraph

21 (3); and

22 (2) by adding after paragraph (1) the following

23 new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall adjust the amount of

25 indemnification provided under an agreement of in-
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1 demnification under subsection d. not less than once

2 during each 5-year period following the date of the

3 enactment of the Price-Anderson Amendments Act

4 of 1999, in accordance with the aggregate percent5 age change in the Consumer Price Index since—

6 ‘‘(A) such date of enactment, in the case

7 of the first adjustment under this subsection; or

8 ‘‘(B) the previous adjustment under this

9 subsection.’’.

10 SEC. 8. CIVIL PENALTIES.

11 (a) REPEAL OF AUTOMATIC REMISSION.—Section

12 234A b.(2) of the Atomic Energy of 1954 (42 U.S.C.

13 2282a(b)(2)) is amended by striking the last sentence.

14 (b) LIMITATION FOR NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS.—

15 Section 234A of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42

16 U.S.C. 2282a) is further amended by striking subsection

17 d. and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘d. Notwithstanding subsection a., no contractor,

19 subcontractor, or supplier considered to be nonprofit

20 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 shall be subject

21 to a civil penalty under this section in excess of the

22 amount of any performance fee paid by the Secretary to

23 such contractor, subcontractor, or supplier under the con24 tract under which the violation or violations; occur.’’.
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1 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this

3 Act shall become effective on the date of the enactment

4 of this Act.

5 (b) INDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS.—The amend6 ments made by sections 3, 4, and 5 shall not apply to

7 any nuclear incident occurring before the date of the en8 actment of this Act.

9 (c) CIVIL PENALTY PROVISIONS.—The amendments

10 made by section 8 to section 234A of the Atomic Energy

11 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2282a(b)(2)) shall not apply to

12 any violation occurring under a contract entered into be13 fore the date of the enactment of this Act.

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