‘‘(e) ADVANCED
REACTOR
TECHNOLOGIES
RE-
SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 
out a program under which the Secretary shall con-
duct research relating to the development of ad-
vanced nuclear energy technologies that may offer 
improved safety, functionality, and affordability. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The program under this 
subsection shall— 
‘‘(A) support efforts to reduce long-term 
technical barriers for advanced nuclear energy 
systems; and 
‘‘(B) be carried out in consultation with 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure 
identification of any relevant concerns. 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 
program under this subsection, the Secretary 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable and 
consistent with national security, make avail-
able nuclear energy research infrastructure to 
industry partners in order to achieve faster and 
cost-effective development of advanced nuclear 
energy technologies toward commercial readi-
ness. The Secretary shall make available— 
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‘‘(i) experimental capabilities and test-
ing facilities; 
‘‘(ii) computational capabilities, mod-
eling, and simulation tools; 
‘‘(iii) access to existing datasets and 
data validation tools; and 
‘‘(iv) land use and site information for 
demonstration facilities. 
‘‘(B) SELECTION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall select industry partners for awards 
on a competitive merit-reviewed basis. 
‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting 
industry partners under clause (i), the Sec-
retary shall consider— 
‘‘(I) the information disclosed by 
the Department as described in sub-
paragraph (A); and 
‘‘(II) any existing facilities the 
Department will provide for public- 
private partnership activities. 
‘‘(C) TERM.—An award made to an indus-
try partner under this subsection shall be for a 
period of not more than 5 years, subject to the 
availability of appropriations, after which the 
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award may be renewed, subject to a rigorous 
merit review. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF ADVANCED NUCLEAR EN-
ERGY.—In this subsection, the term ‘advanced nu-
clear energy’ means energy provided by— 
‘‘(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a 
prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 
52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 
(or successor regulations)), with significant im-
provements compared to the most recent gen-
eration of fission reactors, including improve-
ments such as— 
‘‘(i) additional inherent safety fea-
tures; 
‘‘(ii) lower waste yields; 
‘‘(iii) improved fuel performance; 
‘‘(iv) increased tolerance to loss of 
fuel cooling; 
‘‘(v) enhanced reliability; 
‘‘(vi) increased proliferation resist-
ance; 
‘‘(vii) increased thermal efficiency; 
‘‘(viii) reduced consumption of cooling 
water; 
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‘‘(ix) the ability to integrate into elec-
tric applications and nonelectric applica-
tions; 
‘‘(x) modular sizes to allow for deploy-
ment that corresponds with the demand 
for electricity; or 
‘‘(xi) operational flexibility to respond 
to changes in demand for electricity and to 
complement integration with intermittent 
renewable energy; or 
‘‘(B) a fusion reactor.’’. 
SEC. 3. VERSATILE NEUTRON SOURCE. 
Section 955(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 16275(c)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) VERSATILE NEUTRON SOURCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to advance the re-
search and development of domestic advanced, af-
fordable, secure, and clean nuclear energy, the Sec-
retary shall construct a versatile reactor-based fast 
neutron source, which shall operate as a national 
user facility. The Secretary shall consult with the 
private sector, universities, National Laboratories, 
and relevant Federal agencies to ensure that such 
facility is capable of meeting Federal research needs 
for neutron irradiation services. 
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‘‘(2) FACILITY CAPABILITIES.— 
‘‘(A) CAPABILITIES.—The Secretary shall 
ensure that the facility described in paragraph 
(1) will provide, at a minimum, the following 
capabilities: 
‘‘(i) Fast neutron spectrum irradia-
tion capability. 
‘‘(ii) Capacity for upgrades to accom-
modate new or expanded research needs. 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider 
the following: 
‘‘(i) Capabilities that support experi-
mental high-temperature testing. 
‘‘(ii) Providing a source of fast neu-
trons, at a neutron flux higher than that 
at which existing research facilities oper-
ate, sufficient to enable research for an op-
timal base of prospective users. 
‘‘(iii) Maximizing irradiation flexibility 
and irradiation volume to accommodate as 
many concurrent users as possible. 
‘‘(iv) Capabilities for irradiation with 
neutrons of a lower energy spectrum. 
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‘‘(v) Multiple loops for fuels and ma-
terials testing of different coolants. 
‘‘(vi) Additional pre-irradiation and 
post-irradiation examination capabilities. 
‘‘(vii) Lifetime operating costs and 
lifecycle costs. 
‘‘(3) START
OF
OPERATIONS.—The Secretary 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure 
that the start of full operations of the facility de-
scribed in paragraph (1) occurs before December 31, 
2026. 
‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall include 
in the annual budget request of the Department an 
explanation for any delay in the process of the De-
partment in completing the facility described in 
paragraph (1) by the deadline described in para-
graph (3). 
‘‘(5) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall le-
verage the best practices for management, construc-
tion, and operation of national user facilities from 
the Office of Science. 
‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary for the Office of Nuclear Energy to carry out 
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to completion the construction of the facility under 
this subsection— 
‘‘(A) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 
‘‘(B) $550,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 
‘‘(C) $638,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
‘‘(D) $765,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
and 
‘‘(E) $763,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.’’. 
SEC. 4. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTATION COLLABO-
RATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 
Section 957 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 16277) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall ensure the 
coordination of, and avoid unnecessary duplication of, the 
activities of the program under subsection (a) with the ac-
tivities of— 
‘‘(1) other research entities of the Department, 
including the National Laboratories, the Advanced 
Research Projects Agency–Energy, and the Ad-
vanced Scientific Computing Research program; and 
‘‘(2) industry.’’. 
Æ 
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