IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6140 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 12, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish and carry 
out a program to support the availability of HA–LEU 
for domestic commercial use, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Nuclear Fuel 
Availability Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out, through the Office of Nuclear Energy, a 
program to support the availability of HA–LEU for do-
mestic commercial use. 
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the pro-
gram under subsection (a), the Secretary— 
(1) may provide financial assistance to assist 
commercial entities to design and license transpor-
tation packages for HA–LEU, including canisters 
for metal, gas, and other HA–LEU compositions; 
(2) shall, to the extent practicable— 
(A) by January 1, 2021, have commercial 
entities submit such transportation package de-
signs to the Commission for certification by the 
Commission under part 71 of title 10, Code of 
Federal Regulations; and 
(B) encourage the Commission to have 
such transportation package designs so certified 
by the Commission by January 1, 2023; 
(3) not later than January 1, 2020, shall sub-
mit to Congress a report on the Department’s ura-
nium inventory that may be available to be proc-
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essed to HA–LEU for purposes of such program, 
which may not include any uranium allocated by the 
Secretary for use in support of the atomic energy 
defense activities of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration; 
(4) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and biennially thereafter 
through September 30, 2025, shall conduct a survey 
of stakeholders to estimate the quantity of HA–LEU 
necessary for domestic commercial use for each of 
the 5 subsequent years; 
(5) shall assess options available for the Sec-
retary to acquire HA–LEU for such program, in-
cluding an assessment, for each such option, of the 
cost and amount of time required; 
(6) shall establish a consortium, which may in-
clude entities involved in any stage of the nuclear 
fuel cycle, to partner with the Department to sup-
port the availability of HA–LEU for domestic com-
mercial use, including by— 
(A) providing information to the Secretary 
for purposes of surveys conducted under para-
graph (4); and 
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(B) purchasing HA–LEU made available 
to members of the consortium by the Secretary 
under the program; 
(7) shall, prior to acquiring HA–LEU under 
paragraph (8), in coordination with the consortium 
established pursuant to paragraph (6), develop a 
schedule for cost recovery of HA–LEU made avail-
able to members of the consortium pursuant to 
paragraph (8); 
(8) may, beginning not later than 3 years after 
the establishment of a consortium under paragraph 
(6), acquire HA–LEU, in order, to the extent prac-
ticable, to make such HA–LEU available to mem-
bers of the consortium beginning not later than Jan-
uary 1, 2025, in amounts that are consistent, to the 
extent practicable, with the quantities estimated 
under the surveys conducted under paragraph (4); 
and 
(9) shall develop, in consultation with the Com-
mission, criticality benchmark data to assist the 
Commission in— 
(A) the licensing and regulation of cat-
egory II spent nuclear material fuel fabrication 
and enrichment facilities under part 70 of title 
10, Code of Federal Regulations; and 
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(B) certification of transportation pack-
ages under part 71 of title 10, Code of Federal 
Regulations. 
(c) APPLICABILITY OF USEC PRIVATIZATION ACT.— 
The requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 
3112(d)(2) of the USEC Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 
2297h–10(d)(2)) shall apply to a sale or transfer of HA– 
LEU by the Secretary to a member of the consortium 
under this section. 
(d) FUNDING.— 
(1) TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE DESIGN.— 
(A) COST SHARE.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that not less than 20 percent of the costs 
of design and license activities carried out pur-
suant to subsection (b)(1) are paid by a non- 
Federal entity. 
(B) 
AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out subsection (b)(1)— 
(i) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2019; 
(ii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2020; 
and 
(iii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2021. 
(2) DOE ACQUISITION OF HA-LEU.—The Sec-
retary may not make commitments under this sec-
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tion (including cooperative agreements (used in ac-
cordance with section 6305 of title 31, United States 
Code), purchase agreements, guarantees, leases, 
service contracts, or any other type of commitment) 
for the purchase or other acquisition of HA-LEU 
unless funds are specifically provided for such pur-
poses in advance in subsequent appropriations Acts, 
and only to the extent that the full extent of antici-
pated costs stemming from such commitments is re-
corded as an obligation up front and in full at the 
time it is made. 
(3) OTHER COSTS.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, in carrying out this section, 
the Secretary shall use amounts otherwise author-
ized to be appropriated to the Secretary. 
(e) SUNSET.—The authority of the Secretary to carry 
out the program under this section shall expire on Sep-
tember 30, 2033. 
SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a 
report that includes— 
(1) identification of updates to regulations, cer-
tifications, and other regulatory policies that the 
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Commission determines are necessary in order for 
HA–LEU to be commercially available, including— 
(A) guidance for material control and ac-
countability of category II special nuclear mate-
rial; 
(B) certifications relating to transportation 
packaging for HA–LEU; and 
(C) licensing of enrichment, conversion, 
and fuel fabrication facilities for HA–LEU, and 
associated physical security plans for such fa-
cilities; 
(2) a description of such updates; and 
(3) a timeline to complete such updates. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 
(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means Department of Energy. 
(3) HA–LEU.—The term ‘‘HA–LEU’’ means 
high-assay low-enriched uranium. 
(4) HIGH-ASSAY
LOW-ENRICHED
URANIUM.— 
The term ‘‘high-assay low-enriched uranium’’ means 
uranium having an assay greater than 5.0 percent 
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and less than 20.0 percent enrichment of the ura-
nium-235 isotope. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 11, 
2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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