II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3060 

To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide for thorium fuel 

cycle nuclear power generation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2010 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide for 

thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation. 

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 ‘‘Thorium Energy Secu5 rity Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the United States and foreign countries will 

9 continue to demand increasing quantities of energy 


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1 into the foreseeable future in order to support eco2 nomic growth; 

3 (2) nuclear power provides energy without gen4 erating significant quantities of greenhouse gases; 

5 (3) the growth of nuclear power in the United 

6 States and many foreign countries has faced barriers 

7 from concerns related to— 

8 (A) the proliferation of weapons-useable 

9 material; and 

10 (B) the proper disposal of spent nuclear 

11 fuel; 

12 (4) nuclear power plants operating on an ad13 vanced thorium fuel cycle to generate nuclear en14 ergy— 

15 (A) would not produce weapons-useable 

16 material in spent fuel; and 

17 (B) would produce less long-term waste as 

18 compared to other nuclear power plants; 

19 (5) thorium fuel cycle technology was originally 

20 developed and proven in the United States; 

21 (6) the United States possesses significant do22 mestic quantities of thorium in accessible high-grade 

23 deposits; 


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1 (7) cutting-edge research relating to thorium 

2 fuel cycle technology continues to be carried out by 

3 entities in the United States; and 

4 (8) it is in the national security and foreign pol5 icy interest of the United States that foreign coun6 tries seeking to establish or expand generation and 

7 use of nuclear power should be provided— 

8 (A) access to advanced thorium fuel cycle 

9 technology; 

10 (B) incentives to explore the thorium-based 

11 fuel cycle as a means to reduce the risk of nu12 clear proliferation; and 

13 (C) access to a secure domestic supply of 

14 thorium. 

15 SEC. 3. THORIUM FUEL CYCLE NUCLEAR POWER GENERA16 TION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 19 of title I of the Atomic 

18 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2015 et seq.) is amended 

19 by inserting after section 244 the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 251. THORIUM FUEL CYCLE NUCLEAR POWER GEN21 ERATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) CHAIRMAN.—The term ‘Chairman’ means 

24 the Chairman of the Commission. 


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

2 means the Department of Energy. 

3 ‘‘(3) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means an of4 fice established under subsection (b)(1). 

5 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

6 the Secretary of Energy. 

7 ‘‘(b) OFFICES FOR RESEARCH AND REGULATION OF

8 THORIUM FUEL CYCLE NUCLEAR POWER GENERA9 TION.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, 

10 shall establish and provide funds to— 

11 ‘‘(1) an office for the regulation of thorium fuel 

12 cycle nuclear power generation within the Commis13 sion; and 

14 ‘‘(2) an office of thorium-based fuel cycle re15 search within the Department. 

16 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) FUEL.—Not later than December 31, 

18 2011, the Chairman, in consultation with industry 

19 and nonindustry experts, shall establish standards 

20 for the manufacture, testing, use, and management 

21 of spent thorium-based nuclear fuel. 

22 ‘‘(2) POWER GENERATION.—Not later than De23 cember 31, 2012, the Chairman, in cooperation with 

24 the Secretary, shall promulgate regulations for faciliVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:52 Mar 04, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3060.IS S3060

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1 ties and materials used in thorium-based fuel cycle 

2 power generation. 

3 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta5 tion with industry experts, nonindustry experts, and 

6 National Laboratories, shall carry out demonstration 

7 projects for thorium-based nuclear power generation. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—In preparing for and 

9 selecting demonstration projects, the Secretary shall 

10 consult with reactor designers, utilities, engineering, 

11 and manufacturing firms to— 

12 ‘‘(A) determine the optimum use of tho13 rium in different reactor types; 

14 ‘‘(B) prioritize thorium-based fuel cycle op15 tions that take advantage of existing nuclear 

16 power infrastructure and could be deployed in 

17 support of light water reactors like reactors 

18 used in the United States in the near term; 

19 ‘‘(C) license the manufacture of thorium20 based fuels; 

21 ‘‘(D) qualify and license thorium-based 

22 fuel for use in commercial reactors; and 

23 ‘‘(E) develop and maintain databases nec24 essary for United States industry and regu25 lators to safely license and use advanced fuels. 


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1 ‘‘(e) INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND INCEN2 TIVES.—Not later than December 31, 2011, the Secretary 

3 shall submit to Congress a report providing recommenda4 tions with respect to methods of— 

5 ‘‘(1) strengthening international partnerships to 

6 advance nuclear nonproliferation through the design 

7 and deployment of thorium fuel cycle nuclear power 

8 generation; and 

9 ‘‘(2) providing incentives to nuclear reactor op10 erators to use proliferation-resistant, low-waste tho11 rium fuels in lieu of other fuels. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the 

14 Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, shall submit 

15 to Congress a report describing, with respect to the pre16 ceding calendar year— 

17 ‘‘(1) progress made in implementing this sec18 tion; and 

19 ‘‘(2) activities carried out by the Department 

20 and Commission pursuant to this section. 

21 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

23 out this section $250,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

24 2011 through 2016.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 11 f. of the 

2 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2014(f)) is amend3 ed by striking ‘‘Atomic Energy Commission’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘Nuclear Regulatory Commission’’. 

Æ 


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