II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3978 

To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to operate 

a uranium reserve consisting of uranium produced and converted in 

the United States and a program to ensure the availability of uranium 

produced, converted, and enriched in the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2022 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. MARSHALL) 

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 carry out a program 

to operate a uranium reserve consisting of uranium produced and converted in the United States and a program 

to ensure the availability of uranium produced, converted, 

and enriched in the United States, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Opportunity 

3 to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 

4 2022’’ or the ‘‘NO RUSSIA Act of 2022’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

8 means the Department of Energy. 

9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assist11 ant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. 

12 (3) URANIUM RESERVE.—The term ‘‘Uranium 

13 Reserve’’ means the national strategic uranium re14 serve operated pursuant to the program described in 

15 section 3(a). 

16 SEC. 3. NATIONAL STRATEGIC URANIUM RESERVE. 

17 (a) PROGRAM.—On enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary shall immediately begin executing, with the 

19 amounts reallocated under subsection (f)(1), a program to 

20 operate a national strategic uranium reserve to ensure the 

21 availability of uranium produced and converted in the 

22 United States in accordance with this section. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Uranium Re24 serve are— 


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1 (1) to ensure the availability of domestically 

2 produced and converted uranium in the event of a 

3 supply disruption; 

4 (2) to address domestic nuclear fuel supply 

5 chain gaps and deficiencies in uranium production 

6 and conversion; and 

7 (3) to support strategic nuclear fuel supply 

8 chain capabilities in the United States. 

9 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In operating the Uranium Reserve, 

10 the Secretary shall— 

11 (1) operate the Uranium Reserve in a manner 

12 consistent with the recommendations in the docu13 ment entitled ‘‘Restoring America’s Competitive Nu14 clear Energy Advantage: A Strategy to Assure U.S. 

15 National Security’’, released by the United States 

16 Nuclear Fuel Working Group in 2020; 

17 (2) acquire uranium produced and converted in 

18 the United States that is sufficient to sustain the 

19 continued operation of nuclear reactors in the 

20 United States in the event of a supply disruption; 

21 (3) make uranium available as needed, in a 

22 manner consistent with the cost recovery require23 ments described in subsection (d); and 


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1 (4) replenish, in a manner consistent with the 

2 requirements of this section, uranium made available 

3 by the Department. 

4 (d) COST RECOVERY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 

6 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that 

7 any uranium acquired, provided, or made available 

8 through the Uranium Reserve is subject to cost re9 covery based on the fair market value of the subject 

10 uranium. 

11 (2) AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN FUNDS.—Not12 withstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States 

13 Code, revenues received from the sale or transfer of 

14 uranium and other activities related to making ura15 nium available pursuant to this section— 

16 (A) shall be available to the Department 

17 for carrying out the purposes of this section, to 

18 reduce the need for further appropriations for 

19 those purposes; and 

20 (B) shall remain available until expended. 

21 (e) EXCLUSION.—The Secretary shall exclude from 

22 the Uranium Reserve uranium from an entity that— 

23 (1) is owned or controlled by the Government of 

24 the Russian Federation or the Government of the 

25 People’s Republic of China; or 


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1 (2) is organized under the laws of, or otherwise 

2 subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation 

3 or the People’s Republic of China. 

4 (f) FUNDING.— 

5 (1) REALLOCATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, the amounts described in 

8 subparagraph (B) shall be reallocated to the 

9 Office of Nuclear Energy of the Department for 

10 the purpose of executing the program described 

11 in subsection (a) by— 

12 (i) continuing the activities initiated 

13 by the Department, including the National 

14 Nuclear Security Administration, using 

15 amounts made available for the Uranium 

16 Reserve Program pursuant to the proviso 

17 referred to in that subparagraph; 

18 (ii) carrying out other activities con19 sistent with the purposes for which the 

20 amounts described in clause (i) were origi21 nally made available; and 

22 (iii) carrying out activities in accord23 ance with this section. 

24 (B) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The amounts 

25 referred to in subparagraph (A) are the 


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1 amounts that remain available as of the date of 

2 enactment of this Act from the $75,000,000 

3 made available for the Uranium Reserve Pro4 gram pursuant to the first proviso under the 

5 heading ‘‘WEAPONS ACTIVITIES’’ under the 

6 heading ‘‘NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY 

7 ADMINISTRATION’’ under the heading 

8 ‘‘ATOMIC ENERGY DEFENSE ACTIVI9 TIES’’ in title III of division D of the Consoli10 dated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 

11 116–260; 134 Stat. 1369). 

12 (C) CLARIFICATION.—Subparagraph (A) 

13 does not affect any amounts made available to 

14 the Department, including the National Nuclear 

15 Security Administration, that are not described 

16 in the proviso referred to in subparagraph (B) 

17 as available for the Uranium Reserve Program. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 

19 addition to amounts otherwise made available, there 

20 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to 

21 carry out this section $150,000,000 for each of fis22 cal years 2023 through 2032. 

23 SEC. 4. DOMESTIC URANIUM AVAILABILITY. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall esVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Apr 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978

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1 tablish a program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘pro2 gram’’) to ensure the availability of uranium produced, 

3 converted, and enriched in the United States. 

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program shall 

5 be— 

6 (1) to eliminate reliance on Russian uranium; 

7 (2) to address domestic nuclear fuel supply 

8 chain gaps and deficiencies; and 

9 (3) to ensure the availability of domestically 

10 produced, converted, and enriched uranium to sup11 port the continued operation of nuclear reactors in 

12 the United States. 

13 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the program, 

14 the Secretary shall consider, and, as appropriate, execute 

15 options— 

16 (1) to establish, through a competitive process, 

17 new and, as appropriate, diverse domestic uranium 

18 mining, conversion, and enrichment capacity that is 

19 needed to replace uranium imported from Russia; 

20 (2) to activate and expand the American As21 sured Fuel Supply to meet domestic and inter22 national nuclear fuel supply needs; 

23 (3) to restock the American Assured Fuel Sup24 ply, including by utilizing, or merging with, the Ura25 nium Reserve; 


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1 (4) that do not disrupt or replace market mech2 anisms; and 

3 (5) that ensure the use of domestic uranium 

4 utilized as a result of the program does not nega5 tively impact the economic operation of nuclear reac6 tors in the United States. 

7 (d) EXCLUSION.—The Secretary shall exclude from 

8 the program uranium from an entity that— 

9 (1) is owned or controlled by the Government of 

10 the Russian Federation or the Government of the 

11 People’s Republic of China; or 

12 (2) is organized under the laws of, or otherwise 

13 subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation 

14 or the People’s Republic of China. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi16 tion to amounts otherwise made available, there are au17 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 

18 as are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal 

19 years 2023 through 2032. 

Æ 


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