II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1134 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an investment 

tax credit related to the production of electricity from nuclear energy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. CRAMER (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for an investment tax credit related to the production 

of electricity from nuclear energy. 

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 ‘‘Nuclear Powers Amer5 ica Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENERGY CREDIT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY PROP7 ERTY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 48(a)(3)(A) of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended in clause (vi) by 


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1 striking ‘‘or’’, by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (vii), 

2 and by adding at the end the following new clause: 

3 ‘‘(viii) qualified nuclear energy prop4 erty,’’. 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE FOR 30-PERCENT CREDIT.—Section 

6 48(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ 

7 in subclause (III) and by adding at the end the following 

8 new subclause: 

9 ‘‘(V) energy property described in 

10 paragraph (3)(A)(viii) but only with 

11 respect to property placed in service 

12 before January 1, 2026, and’’. 

13 (c) QUALIFIED NUCLEAR ENERGY PROPERTY.—Sec14 tion 48(c) of such Code is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED NUCLEAR ENERGY PROP17 ERTY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

19 nuclear energy property’ means any amounts 

20 paid or incurred for the refueling of, and any 

21 other expenditures described in section 263(a) 

22 with respect to, a qualifying nuclear power 

23 plant. 


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1 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING NUCLEAR POWER

2 PLANT.—The term ‘qualifying nuclear power 

3 plant’ means a nuclear power plant which— 

4 ‘‘(i) submitted an application for li5 cense renewal to the Nuclear Regulatory 

6 Commission in accordance with part 54 of 

7 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, be8 fore January 1, 2026, or 

9 ‘‘(ii) certified to the Secretary (at 

10 such time and in such form and in such 

11 manner as the Secretary prescribes) that 

12 such plant will submit an application for li13 cense renewal to the Nuclear Regulatory 

14 Commission in accordance with part 54 of 

15 title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, be16 fore January 1, 2026. 

17 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES.— 

18 ‘‘(i) BASIS.—For purposes of sub19 section (a), the cumulative amounts paid 

20 or incurred by the taxpayer during the tax21 able year with respect to a qualifying nu22 clear power plant, which are properly 

23 chargeable to capital account, shall be 

24 treated as the basis of the qualified nuclear 


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1 energy property placed in service for that 

2 taxable year. 

3 ‘‘(ii) PLACED IN SERVICE.—For pur4 poses of subsection (a), qualified nuclear 

5 energy property shall be treated as having 

6 been placed in service on the last day of 

7 the taxable year in which the taxpayer 

8 pays or incurs such amounts described in 

9 clause (i). 

10 ‘‘(iii) RECAPTURE.—The Secretary 

11 shall, by regulations, provide for recap12 turing the benefit of any credit allowable 

13 under subsection (a) to any qualifying nu14 clear power plant which made a certifi15 cation pursuant to subparagraph (B) but 

16 does not file an application of license re17 newal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commis18 sion in accordance with part 54 of title 10, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, before Janu20 ary 1, 2026.’’. 

21 (d) PHASEOUT OF 30-PERCENT CREDIT RATE FOR

22 NUCLEAR ENERGY PROPERTY.—Section 48(a) of such 

23 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(8) PHASEOUT FOR QUALIFIED NUCLEAR EN2 ERGY PROPERTY.—In the case of qualified nuclear 

3 energy property, the energy percentage determined 

4 under paragraph (2) shall be equal to— 

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of any property placed in 

6 service after December 31, 2023, and before 

7 January 1, 2025, 26 percent, and 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of any property placed in 

9 service after December 31, 2024, and before 

10 January 1, 2026, 22 percent.’’. 

11 (e) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT FOR PRODUCTION

12 FROM ADVANCED NUCLEAR POWER FACILITIES.—The 

13 last sentence of section 48(a)(3) is amended by inserting 

14 ‘‘or 45J’’ after ‘‘section 45’’. 

15 (f) TRANSFER OF CREDIT BY CERTAIN PUBLIC EN16 TITIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 48 of such Code is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 subsection: 

20 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE FOR QUALIFIED NUCLEAR EN21 ERGY PROPERTY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any qualified 

23 nuclear energy property, if, with respect to a credit 

24 under subsection (a) for any taxable year— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the taxpayer would be a qualified 

2 public entity, and 

3 ‘‘(B) such entity elects the application of 

4 this subsection for such taxable year with re5 spect to all (or any portion specified in such 

6 election) of such credit, the eligible project part7 ner specified in such election (and not the 

8 qualified public entity) shall be treated as the 

9 taxpayer for purposes of this title with respect 

10 to such credit (or such portion thereof). 

11 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub12 section— 

13 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED PUBLIC ENTITY.—The 

14 term ‘qualified public entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) a Federal, State, or local govern16 ment entity, or any political subdivision, 

17 agency, or instrumentality thereof, 

18 ‘‘(ii) a mutual or cooperative electric 

19 company described in section 501(c)(12) or 

20 section 1381(a)(2), or 

21 ‘‘(iii) a not-for-profit electric utility 

22 which has or had received a loan or loan 

23 guarantee under the Rural Electrification 

24 Act of 1936. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PROJECT PARTNER.—The 

2 term ‘eligible project partner’ means— 

3 ‘‘(i) any person responsible for oper4 ating, maintaining, or repairing the quali5 fying nuclear power plant to which the 

6 credit under subsection (a) relates, 

7 ‘‘(ii) any person who participates in 

8 the provision of the nuclear steam supply 

9 system to the qualifying nuclear power 

10 plant to which the credit under subsection 

11 (a) relates, 

12 ‘‘(iii) any person who participates in 

13 the provision of nuclear fuel to the quali14 fying nuclear power plant to which the 

15 credit under subsection (a) relates, or 

16 ‘‘(iv) any person who has an owner17 ship interest in such facility. 

18 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION TO PARTNERSHIPS.—In 

20 the case of a credit under subsection (a) which 

21 is determined with respect to qualified nuclear 

22 energy property at the partnership level— 

23 ‘‘(i) for purposes of paragraph (1)(A), 

24 a qualified public entity shall be treated as 


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1 the taxpayer with respect to such entity’s 

2 distributive share of such credit, and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘eligible project partner’ 

4 shall include any partner of the partner5 ship. 

6 ‘‘(B) TAXABLE YEAR IN WHICH CREDIT

7 TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—In the case of any 

8 credit (or portion thereof) with respect to which 

9 an election is made under subsection (e), such 

10 credit shall be taken into account in the first 

11 taxable year of the eligible project partner end12 ing with, or after, the qualified public entity’s 

13 taxable year with respect to which the credit 

14 was determined. 

15 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF TRANSFER UNDER

16 PRIVATE USE RULES.—For purposes of section 

17 141(b)(1), any benefit derived by an eligible 

18 project partner in connection with an election 

19 under this subsection shall not be taken into ac20 count as a private business use.’’. 

21 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PROCEEDS OF TRANS22 FERS FOR MUTUAL OR COOPERATIVE ELECTRIC

23 COMPANIES.—Section 501(c)(12)(I) of such Code is 

24 amended by inserting ‘‘or 48(e)(1)’’ after ‘‘section 

25 45J(e)(1)’’. 


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1 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 48(a)(2)(A) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘and 

3 (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (7), and (8)’’. 

4 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to periods after December 31, 

6 2018, in taxable years ending after such date, under rules 

7 similar to the rules of section 48(m) of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 (as in effect on the day before the en9 actment of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 

Æ 


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