I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 763

To provide for the disposition of United States Government uranium 

inventories. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mrs. CUBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To provide for the disposition of United States Government 

uranium inventories.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. 

4 Section 3112 of the USEC Privatization Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 2297h–10) is amended by striking subsections (d) 

6 and (e) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(d)(1)(A) The aggregate annual deliveries of ura8 nium in any form (including natural uranium con9 centrates, natural uranium hexafluoride, enriched ura10 nium, and depleted uranium) sold or transferred by the 
2

•HR 763 IH 

1 United States Government shall not exceed 3,000,000 

2 pounds U3O8 equivalent per year through calendar year 

3 2009. Such aggregate annual deliveries shall not exceed 

4 5,000,000 pounds U3O8 equivalent per year in calendar 

5 years 2010 and 2011. Such aggregate annual deliveries 

6 shall not exceed 7,000,000 pounds U3O8 equivalent in cal7 endar year 2012. Such aggregate annual deliveries shall 

8 not exceed 10,000,000 pounds U3O8 equivalent per year 

9 in calendar year 2013 and each year thereafter. Any sales 

10 or transfers by the United States Government shall be lim11 ited to long-term contracts with end users of no less than 

12 3 years duration. 

13 ‘‘(B) Sales or transfers of uranium by the United 

14 States Government for the following purposes are exempt 

15 from the provisions of this subsection: 

16 ‘‘(i) Sales or transfers provided for under exist17 ing law for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 

18 relation to the Department of Energy’s high-en19 riched uranium or tritium programs. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Sales or transfers to the Department of 

21 Energy research reactor sales program. 

22 ‘‘(iii) The transfer of any natural uranium to 

23 the United States Enrichment Corporation to re24 place contaminated uranium received from the De-
3

•HR 763 IH 

1 partment of Energy when the United States Enrich2 ment Corporation was privatized in July 1998. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The sale or transfer of any natural ura4 nium for emergency purposes in the event of a dis5 ruption in supply to end users in the United States. 

6 ‘‘(v) The sale or transfer of any natural ura7 nium in fulfillment of the United States Govern8 ment’s obligations to provide security of supply with 

9 respect to implementation of the Russian HEU 

10 Agreement.

11 ‘‘(vi) The sale or transfer of any enriched ura12 nium for use in a Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, a 

13 Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor, a High Tem14 perature Gas Reactor, or any other advanced com15 mercial nuclear power plant in the United States 

16 with nonstandard fuel requirements. 

17 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may transfer or sell enriched ura18 nium to any person for national security purposes, as de19 termined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), 

21 and in paragraph (1)(B) and (C) of this subsection, no 

22 sale or transfer of uranium in any form shall be made 

23 by the United States Government unless—

24 ‘‘(A) the President determines that the material 

25 is not necessary for national security needs; 
4

•HR 763 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) the price paid to the Secretary will not be 

2 less than the fair market value of the material, as 

3 determined at the time that such material is con4 tracted for sale; 

5 ‘‘(C) prior to any sale or transfer, the Secretary 

6 solicits the written views of the Department of State 

7 and the National Security Council with regard to 

8 whether such sale or transfer would have any ad9 verse effect on national security interests of the 

10 United States, including interests related to the im11 plementation of the Russian HEU Agreement; and 

12 ‘‘(D) neither the Department of State or the 

13 National Security Council objects to such sale or 

14 transfer. 

15 The Secretary shall endeavor to determine whether a sale 

16 or transfer is permitted under this paragraph within 30 

17 days. The Secretary’s determinations pursuant to this 

18 paragraph shall be made available to interested members 

19 of the public prior to authorizing any such sale or transfer. 

20 ‘‘(3) Within 1 year after the date of enactment of 

21 this subsection and annually thereafter the Secretary shall 

22 undertake an assessment for the purpose of reviewing 

23 available excess Government uranium inventories, and de24 termining, consistent with the procedures and limitations 
5

•HR 763 IH 

1 established in this subsection, the level of inventory to be 

2 sold or transferred to end users. 

3 ‘‘(4) Within 5 years after the date of enactment of 

4 this subsection and biennially thereafter the Secretary 

5 shall report to the Congress on the implementation of this 

6 subsection. The report shall include a discussion of all 

7 sales or transfers made by the United States Government, 

8 the impact of such sales or transfers on the domestic ura9 nium industry, the spot market uranium price, and the 

10 national security interests of the United States, and any 

11 steps taken to remediate any adverse impacts of such sales 

12 or transfers. 

13 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term 

14 ‘United States Government’ does not include the Ten15 nessee Valley Authority.’’.

Æ