I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2983
To extend indemnification authority under section 170 of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 2, 2001
Mrs. WILSON (for herself, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. NORWOOD, Mrs.
TAUSCHER, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BURR of North Carolina,
Mr. WELLER, and Mr. WHITFIELD) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To extend indemnification authority under section 170 of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Price-Anderson Reau-
thorization Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF INDEMNIFICATION AUTHORITY.
(a) INDEMNIFICATION
OF NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION LICENSEES.—Section 170 c. of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(c)) is amended—
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘LI-
CENSES’’ and inserting ‘‘LICENSEES’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘August 1, 2002’’ each place it
appears and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2017’’.
(b) INDEMNIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
CONTRACTORS.—Section 170 d.(1)(A) of the Atomic En-
ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)(1)(A)) is amended
by striking ‘‘August 1, 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘August 1,
2017’’.
(c) INDEMNIFICATION OF NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS.—Section 170 k. of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(k)) is amended by striking ‘‘Au-
gust 1, 2002’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘August
1, 2017’’.
SEC. 3. MAXIMUM ASSESSMENT.
Section 170 b.(1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954
(42 U.S.C. 2210(b)(1)) is amended—
(1) in the second proviso of the third
sentence—
(A) by striking ‘‘$63,000,000’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘$94,000,000’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘$10,000,000 in any 1
year’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000,000 in any 1 year
(subject to adjustment for inflation under sub-
section t.)’’; and
(2) in subsection t.—
(A) by inserting ‘‘total and annual’’ after
‘‘amount of the maximum’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘the date of the enactment
of the Price-Anderson Amendments Act of
1988’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2001’’; and
(C) by striking ‘‘such date of enactment’’
and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2001’’.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LIABILITY LIMIT.
(a) INDEMNIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
CONTRACTORS.—Section 170 d. of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is amended by striking para-
graph (2) and inserting the following:
‘‘(2) INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENTS.—In an agree-
ment of indemnification entered into under paragraph (1),
the Secretary—
‘‘(A) may require the contractor to provide and
maintain the financial protection of such a type and
in such amounts as the Secretary shall determine to
be appropriate to cover public liability arising out of
or in connection with the contractual activity; and
‘‘(B) shall indemnify the persons indemnified
against such liability above the amount of the finan-
cial 
protection 
required, 
in 
the 
amount 
of
$10,000,000,000 (subject to adjustment for inflation
under subsection t.), in the aggregate, for all per-
sons indemnified in connection with the contract and
for each nuclear incident, including such legal costs
of the contractor as are approved by the Secretary.’’.
(b) CONTRACT AMENDMENTS.—Section 170 d. of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(d)) is
amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(3) CONTRACT AMENDMENTS.—All agreements of
indemnification under which the Department of Energy
(or its predecessor agencies) may be required to indemnify
any person under this section shall be deemed to be
amended, on the date of enactment of the Price-Anderson
Reauthorization Act of 2001, to reflect the amount of in-
demnity for public liability and any applicable financial
protection required of the contractor under this sub-
section.’’.
(c) LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170 e.(1)(B) of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(1)(B)) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘the maximum amount of finan-
cial protection required under subsection b. or’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3) of subsection d.,
whichever amount is more.’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graph (2) of subsection d.’’.
SEC. 5. INCIDENTS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.
(a) AMOUNT
OF INDEMNIFICATION.—Section 170
d.(5) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C.
2210(d)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and
inserting ‘‘$500,000,000’’.
(b) LIABILITY LIMIT.—Section 170 e.(4) of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210(e)(4)) is
amended by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting
‘‘$500,000,000’’.
SEC. 6. REPORTS.
Section 170 p. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
U.S.C. 2210(p)) is amended by striking ‘‘August 1, 1998’’
and inserting ‘‘August 1, 2013’’.
SEC. 7. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.
Section 170 t. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
U.S.C. 2210(t)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3); and
(2) by adding after paragraph (1) the following:
‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary shall adjust the
amount of indemnification provided under an agreement
of indemnification under subsection d. not less than once
during each 5-year period following July 1, 2001, in ac-
cordance with the aggregate percentage change in the
Consumer Price Index since—
‘‘(A) that date, in the case of the first adjust-
ment under this paragraph; or
‘‘(B) the previous adjustment under this para-
graph.’’.
SEC. 8. PRICE-ANDERSON TREATMENT OF MODULAR REAC-
TORS.
Section 170 b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42
U.S.C. 2210(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(5)(A) For purposes of this section only, the Com-
mission shall consider a combination of facilities described
in subparagraph (B) to be a single facility having a rated
capacity of 100,000 electrical kilowatts or more.
‘‘(B) A combination of facilities referred to in sub-
paragraph (A) is 2 or more facilities located at a single
site, each of which has a rated capacity of 100,000 elec-
trical kilowatts or more but not more than 300,000 elec-
trical kilowatts, with a combined rated capacity of not
more than 950,000 electrical kilowatts.’’.
SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by sections 3, 4, and 5 do
not apply to a nuclear incident that occurs before the date
of enactment of this Act.
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