I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2126

To authorize funding for University Nuclear Science and Engineering

Programs at the Department of Energy for fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 12, 2001

Mrs. BIGGERT (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr.

KNOLLENBERG, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. SIMPSON, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon,

Mrs. WILSON, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. OTTER, and Mr. CALVERT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

To authorize funding for University Nuclear Science and

Engineering Programs at the Department of Energy for

fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

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 ‘‘Department of Energy

5 University Nuclear Science and Engineering Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) U.S. university nuclear science and engi9 neering programs are in a state of serious decline.
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1 The supply of bachelor degree nuclear science and

2 engineering personnel in the United States is at a

3 35-year-low. The number of four year degree nuclear

4 engineering programs has declined 50 percent to ap5 proximately 25 programs nationwide. Over two6 thirds of the faculty in these programs are 45 years

7 or older.

8 (2) Universities cannot afford to support their

9 research and training reactors. Since 1980, the

10 number of small training reactors in the United

11 States have declined by over 50 percent to 28 reac12 tors. Most of these reactors were built in the late

13 1950’s and 1960’s with 30- to 40-year operating li14 censes, and will require re-licensing in the next sev15 eral years.

16 (3) The neglect in human investment and train17 ing infrastructure is affecting 50 years of national

18 R&D investment. The decline in a competent nuclear

19 workforce, and the lack of adequately trained nu20 clear scientists and engineers, will affect the ability

21 of the United States to solve future waste storage

22 issues, operate existing and design future fission re23 actors in the United States, respond to future nu24 clear events worldwide, help stem the proliferation of
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1 nuclear weapons, and design and operate naval nu2 clear reactors.

3 (4) Future neglect in the nation’s investment in

4 human resources for the nuclear sciences will lead to

5 a downward spiral. As the number of nuclear science

6 departments shrink, faculties age, and training reac7 tors close, the appeal of nuclear science will be lost

8 to future generations of students.

9 (5) Current projections are that 50 percent of

10 industry’s nuclear workforce can retire in 10 to 15

11 years, and 76 percent of the nuclear workforce at

12 our national labs can retire in the next 5 years. A

13 new supply of trained scientists and engineers to re14 place this retiring workforce is urgently needed.

15 (6) The Department of Energy’s Office of Nu16 clear Energy, Science and Technology is well suited

17 to help maintain tomorrow’s human resource and

18 training investment in the nuclear sciences. Through

19 its support of research and development pursuant to

20 the Department’s statutory authorities, the Office of

21 Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology is the prin22 cipal federal agent for civilian research in the nu23 clear sciences for the United States. The Office

24 maintains the Nuclear Engineering and Education

25 Research Program which funds basic nuclear science
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1 and engineering. The Office funds the Nuclear En2 ergy and Research Initiative which funds applied

3 collaborative research among universities, industry

4 and national laboratories in the areas of prolifera5 tion resistant fuel cycles and future fission power

6 systems. The Office funds Universities to refuel

7 training reactors from highly enriched to low en8 riched proliferation tolerant fuels, performs instru9 mentation upgrades and maintains a program of

10 student fellowships for nuclear science and engineer11 ing.

12 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROGRAM.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy,

14 through the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Tech15 nology, shall support a program to maintain the nation’s

16 human resource investment and infrastructure in the nu17 clear sciences and engineering consistent with the Depart18 ment’s statutory authorities related to civilian nuclear re19 search and development.

20 (b) DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY,

21 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.—In carrying out the pro22 gram under this Act, the Director of the Office of Nuclear

23 Science and Technology shall—
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1 (1) develop a robust graduate and under2 graduate fellowship program to attract new and tal3 ented students;

4 (2) assist universities in recruiting and retain5 ing new faculty in the nuclear sciences and engineer6 ing through a Junior Faculty Research Initiation

7 Grant Program;

8 (3) maintain a robust investment in the funda9 mental nuclear sciences and engineering through the

10 Nuclear Engineering Education Research Program;

11 (4) encourage collaborative nuclear research be12 tween industry, national laboratories and universities

13 through the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative; and

14 (5) support communication and outreach re15 lated to nuclear science and engineering.

16 (c) MAINTAINING UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND

17 TRAINING REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUC18 TURE.—Within the funds authorized to be appropriated

19 pursuant to this Act, the amounts specified under section

20 4(b) shall, subject to appropriations, be available for the

21 following research and training reactor infrastructure

22 maintenance and research:

23 (1) Refueling of research reactors with low en24 riched fuels, upgrade of operational instrumentation,

25 and sharing of reactors among universities.
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1 (2) In collaboration with the U.S. nuclear in2 dustry, assistance, where necessary, in re-licensing

3 and upgrading training reactors as part of a student

4 training program.

5 (3) A reactor research and training award pro6 gram that provides for reactor improvements as part

7 of a focused effort that emphasizes research, train8 ing, and education.

9 (d) UNIVERSITY-DOE LABORATORY INTER10 ACTIONS.—The Secretary of Energy, through the Office

11 of Nuclear Science and Technology, shall develop—

12 (1) a sabbatical fellowship program for univer13 sity professors to spend extended periods of time at

14 Department of Energy laboratories in the areas of

15 nuclear science and technology; and

16 (2) a visiting scientist program in which labora17 tory staff can spend time in academic nuclear

18 science and engineering departments. The Secretary

19 may under section 3(b)(1) provide for fellowships for

20 students to spend time at Department of Energy

21 laboratories in the area of nuclear science under the

22 mentorship of laboratory staff.

23 (e) OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.—For the re24 search programs described, portions thereof may be used

25 to supplement operation of the research reactor during in-
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1 vestigator’s proposed effort provided the host institution

2 provides cost sharing in the reactor’s operation.

3 (f) MERIT REVIEW REQUIRED.—All grants, con4 tracts, cooperative agreements, or other financial assist5 ance awards under this Act shall be made only after inde6 pendent merit review.

7 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 (a) TOTAL AUTHORIZATION.—The following sums

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of En10 ergy, to remain available until expended, for the purposes

11 of carrying out this Act:

12 (1) $30,200,000 for fiscal year 2002.

13 (2) $42,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

14 (3) $47,850,000 for fiscal year 2004.

15 (4) $55,600,000 for fiscal year 2005.

16 (5) $64,100,000 for fiscal year 2006.

17 (b) GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE FELLOW18 SHIPS.—Of the funds under subsection (a), the following

19 sums are authorized to be appropriated to carry out sec20 tion 3(b)(1):

21 (1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

22 (2) $3,100,000 for fiscal year 2003.

23 (3) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2004.

24 (4) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2005.

25 (5) $3,200,000 for fiscal year 2006.
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1 (c) JUNIOR FACULTY RESEARCH INITIATION GRANT

2 PROGRAM.—Of the funds under subsection (a), the fol3 lowing sums are authorized to be appropriated to carry

4 out section 3(b)(2):

5 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

6 (2) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

7 (3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

8 (4) $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

9 (5) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.

10 (d) NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND EDUCATION RE11 SEARCH PROGRAM.—Of the funds under subsection (a),

12 the following sums are authorized to be appropriated to

13 carry out section 3(b)(3):

14 (1) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

15 (2) $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

16 (3) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

17 (4) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

18 (5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.

19 (e) COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH RELATED TO

20 NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.—Of the funds

21 under subsection (a), the following sums are authorized

22 to be appropriated to carry out section 3(b)(5):

23 (1) $200,000 for fiscal year 2002.

24 (2) $200,000 for fiscal year 2003.

25 (3) $300,000 for fiscal year 2004.
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1 (4) $300,000 for fiscal year 2005.

2 (5) $300,000 for fiscal year 2006.

3 (f) REFUELING OF RESEARCH REACTORS AND IN4 STRUMENTATION UPGRADES.—Of the funds under sub5 section (a), the following sums are authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out section 3(c)(1):

7 (1) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

8 (2) $6,500,000 for fiscal year 2003.

9 (3) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

10 (4) $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2005.

11 (5) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.

12 (g) RE-LICENSING ASSISTANCE.—Of the funds under

13 subsection (a), the following sums are authorized to be ap14 propriated to carry out section 3(c)(2):

15 (1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

16 (2) $1,100,000 for fiscal year 2003.

17 (3) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2004.

18 (4) $1,300,000 for fiscal year 2005.

19 (5) $1,300,000 for fiscal year 2006.

20 (h) REACTOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING AWARD

21 PROGRAM.—Of the funds under subsection (a), the fol22 lowing sums are authorized to be appropriated to carry

23 out section 3(c)(3):

24 (1) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

25 (2) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
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1 (3) $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

2 (4) $18,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

3 (5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.

4 (i) UNIVERSITY-DOE LABORATORY INTER5 ACTIONS.—Of the funds under subsection (a), the fol6 lowing sums are authorized to be appropriated to carry

7 out section 3(d):

8 (1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

9 (2) $1,100,000 for fiscal year 2003.

10 (3) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2004.

11 (4) $1,300,000 for fiscal year 2005.

12 (5) $1,300,000 for fiscal year 2006.

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