II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3428 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide Federal 

financial assistance to support advanced nuclear reactors and associated 

supply chain infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. BARRASSO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

to provide Federal financial assistance to support advanced nuclear reactors and associated supply chain infrastructure, 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 ‘‘Fission for the Future 

5 Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES FEDERAL FI7 NANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The term 

2 ‘‘advanced nuclear reactor’’ has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 951(b) of the Energy Policy Act 

4 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271(b)). 

5 (2) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 

6 utility’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means each of— 

10 (A) a State; 

11 (B) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 

12 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu13 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 

14 (C) a Tribal Organization (as defined in 

15 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

16 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 

17 (D) a unit of local government; 

18 (E) an electric utility; 

19 (F) a National Laboratory; 

20 (G) an institution of higher education; and 

21 (H) a private entity specializing in— 

22 (i) advanced nuclear technology devel23 opment; 

24 (ii) nuclear supply chains; or 


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1 (iii) with respect to nuclear tech2 nologies and nonelectric applications of nu3 clear technologies, construction, project fi4 nancing, contract structuring and risk allo5 cation, or regulatory and licensing proc6 esses. 

7 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

11 (5) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na12 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

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

14 U.S.C. 15801). 

15 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

16 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 

17 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Energy. 

19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 a program to provide Federal financial assistance to 

22 eligible entities to support the commercial planning, 

23 licensing, development, and construction, and con24 struction planning, of— 


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1 (A) advanced nuclear reactors for the pur2 pose of enhancing grid resilience, reliability, and 

3 security while also seeking to reduce emissions; 

4 or 

5 (B) supply chain infrastructure associated 

6 with advanced nuclear reactors or related tech7 nologies. 

8 (2) COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES.—To the max9 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall carry 

10 out the program using a competitive, merit-based re11 view process that is consistent with section 989 of 

12 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16353). 

13 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring Fed14 eral financial assistance under the program shall submit 

15 to the Secretary an application at such time, in such man16 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

17 require. 

18 (d) SELECTION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In selecting eligible entities 

20 to receive Federal financial assistance under the pro21 gram, the Secretary shall give special consideration 

22 to projects— 

23 (A) to develop or provide services to sup24 port— 

25 (i) market analysis; 


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1 (ii) project structure models; 

2 (iii) models for electricity market 

3 analysis; 

4 (iv) nonelectric applications; 

5 (v) financial models; 

6 (vi) analysis, planning, and, as appro7 priate, management of environmental 

8 issues at fossil fuel electric generation fa9 cilities that are retired or scheduled to re10 tire; and 

11 (vii) site planning, review, testing, 

12 analysis, and preparation; 

13 (B) to support licensing activities, permit14 ting, and environmental impact studies; and 

15 (C) for— 

16 (i)(I) the construction planning of ad17 vanced nuclear reactors; and 

18 (II) related— 

19 (aa) planning and construction of 

20 transmission and distribution systems; 

21 (bb) modernization of generation 

22 facilities; 

23 (cc) development of microgrids; 

24 and 

25 (dd) supply chain infrastructure; 


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1 (ii) infrastructure for nonelectric ap2 plications; and 

3 (iii) acquisition of relevant rights-of4 way. 

5 (2) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to 

6 receive Federal financial assistance under the pro7 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible en8 tities that— 

9 (A) plan to carry out projects at or near 

10 the site of 1 or more fossil fuel electric genera11 tion facilities that are retired or scheduled to 

12 retire, including multi-unit facilities that are 

13 partially shut down— 

14 (i) to reduce the cost of— 

15 (I) infrastructure requirements; 

16 (II) transmission requirements; 

17 and 

18 (III) licensing and permitting re19 quirements; 

20 (ii) to support the productive reuse of 

21 fossil fuel electric generation facilities that 

22 are retired or scheduled to retire; and 

23 (iii) to sustain and revitalize commu24 nities impacted by the closure of fossil fuel 

25 electric generation facilities; 


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1 (B) plan to support nonelectric applica2 tions, including supplying heat for— 

3 (i) energy storage; 

4 (ii) hydrogen or other liquid and gas5 eous fuel or chemical production; 

6 (iii) industrial processes; 

7 (iv) desalination technologies and 

8 processes; 

9 (v) isotope production; 

10 (vi) district heating; and 

11 (vii) other applications, as the Sec12 retary determines to be appropriate; 

13 (C) plan to support supply chain infra14 structure, including manufacturing, associated 

15 with advanced nuclear reactors or related tech16 nologies; 

17 (D) have implemented or demonstrated the 

18 ability to successfully implement workforce 

19 training or retraining programs to train work20 ers to perform activities described in this sec21 tion; and 

22 (E) plan to be cost competitive. 

23 (e) COST SHARE.—Section 988 of the Energy Policy 

24 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall apply to Federal fi25 nancial assistance provided under the program. 


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1 SEC. 3. WORKFORCE CAPACITY BUILDING. 

2 Section 954(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

3 U.S.C. 16274(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

5 ‘‘GRADUATE’’; 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘graduate’’ each place it ap7 pears; 

8 (3) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘commu9 nity colleges, trade schools, registered apprenticeship 

10 programs, pre-apprenticeship programs’’ after ‘‘uni11 versities,’’; 

12 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘2021 

13 through 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘2022 through 2026’’; 

14 (5) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para15 graph (4); and 

16 (6) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(3) FOCUS AREAS.—In carrying out the sub19 program under this subsection, the Secretary may 

20 implement traineeships in focus areas that, in the 

21 determination of the Secretary, are necessary to sup22 port the nuclear energy sector in the United States, 

23 including— 

24 ‘‘(A) research and development; 

25 ‘‘(B) construction and operation; 

26 ‘‘(C) associated supply chains; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) workforce training and retraining to 

2 support transitioning workforces.’’. 

Æ 


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