I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1710 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary prizes for 
achievements in designing and proposing nuclear energy used fuel alternatives. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2011 
Mr. BURGESS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary 
prizes for achievements in designing and proposing nu-
clear energy used fuel alternatives. 
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 ‘‘Nuclear Used Fuel 
Prize Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘ad-
ministering entity’’ means the entity with which the 
Secretary enters into an agreement under section 
4(c). 
(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The rising cost of energy has become a hin-
drance to American economic progress. 
(2) High and rising energy costs have become 
a burden upon the American family. 
(3) Nuclear energy can be a safe, efficient, 
clean, and affordable source of renewable energy and 
should be considered as part of the solution for long- 
term American energy independence. 
(4) Used nuclear fuel is and has been safely 
stored on nuclear energy electricity producing reac-
tor sites for many years. 
(5) Those sites were originally not designed or 
built for such storage. 
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(6) By 2015, it is estimated that the United 
States will maintain 70,000 tons of high-level nu-
clear waste. 
(7) The country’s electricity needs are best 
served by allowing new nuclear reactors to be built, 
in many cases on existing reactor sites. 
(8) Removal of the used nuclear fuel from those 
sites can be safely done and would lead to more effi-
cient management of used fuel and lower costs. 
(9) Development of alternatives to current stor-
age facilities, including the Yucca Mountain long- 
term storage facility, would also allow used nuclear 
fuel from decommissioned reactor sites to be moved 
and final clean up of those sites to take place. 
(10) Citizens and communities in the United 
States interested in developing alternatives to cur-
rent storage proposals, including the high-level 
Yucca Mountain storage facility, should be provided 
the incentive to move forward with these designs and 
plans. 
(11) Prize legislation has been a successful 
method used by the United States Government to 
solve some of our country’s most difficult problems, 
from space travel to vehicles with super efficiency. 
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(12) There is merit in and need for establishing 
a program of prize incentives to develop used nu-
clear fuel management plans. 
SEC. 4. PRIZE AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
program to competitively award cash prizes in conformity 
with this Act to advance the research, development, dem-
onstration, and commercial application of nuclear used 
fuel storage. 
(b) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COMPETI-
TORS.— 
(1) ADVERTISING.—The Secretary shall widely 
advertise prize competitions to encourage broad par-
ticipation in the program carried out under sub-
section (a), including individuals, universities, com-
munities, and large and small businesses. 
(2) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL REG-
ISTER NOTICE.—The Secretary shall announce each 
prize competition by publishing a notice in the Fed-
eral Register. This notice shall include essential ele-
ments of the competition such as the subject of the 
competition, the duration of the competition, the eli-
gibility requirements for participation in the com-
petition, the process for participants to register for 
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the competition, the amount of the prize, and the 
criteria for awarding the prize. 
(c) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITION.—The Sec-
retary may enter into an agreement with a private, non-
profit entity to administer the prize competitions, subject 
to the provisions of this Act. The administering entity 
shall perform the following functions: 
(1) Advertise the competition and its results. 
(2) Raise funds from private entities and indi-
viduals to pay for administrative costs and cash 
prizes. 
(3) Develop, in consultation with and subject to 
the final approval of the Secretary, criteria to select 
winners based upon the goal of safely and ade-
quately storing nuclear used fuel. 
(4) Determine, in consultation with and subject 
to the final approval of the Secretary, the appro-
priate amount of the awards. 
(5) Protect against the administering entity’s 
unauthorized use or disclosure of a registered par-
ticipant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, and 
confidential business information. Any information 
properly identified as trade secrets or confidential 
business information that is submitted by a partici-
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