226
the United States; and any steps taken to remediate any 
adverse impacts of such sales or transfers. 
SEC. 631. COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
AND SPECIAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS 
FOR THE URANIUM MINING INDUSTRY. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of En-
ergy $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 
2008 for—
(1) cooperative, cost-shared agreements between 
the Department of Energy and domestic uranium 
producers to identify, test, and develop improved in 
situ leaching mining technologies, including low-cost 
environmental restoration technologies that may be 
applied to sites after completion of in situ leaching 
operations; and 
(2) funding for competitively selected dem-
onstration projects with domestic uranium producers 
relating to—
(A) enhanced production with minimal en-
vironmental impacts; 
(B) restoration of well fields; and 
(C) decommissioning and decontamination 
activities.
227
(b) DOMESTIC URANIUM PRODUCER.—For purposes 
of this section, the term ‘‘domestic uranium producer’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 1018(4) of the En-
ergy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 2296b–7(4)), except 
that the term shall not include any producer that has not 
produced uranium from domestic reserves on or after July 
30, 1998. 
(c) LIMITATION.—No activities funded under this 
section may be carried out in the State of New Mexico. 
SEC. 632. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION. 
(a) DEFINITION OF EMPLOYER.—Section 211(a)(2) 
of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 
5851(a)(2)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’ and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) a contractor or subcontractor of the 
Commission.’’. 
(b) DE NOVO REVIEW.—Subsection (b) of such sec-
tion 211 is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) If the Secretary has not issued a final de-
cision within 540 days after the filing of a complaint
228
under paragraph (1), and there is no showing that 
such delay is due to the bad faith of the person 
seeking relief under this paragraph, such person 
may bring an action at law or equity for de novo re-
view in the appropriate district court of the United 
States, which shall have jurisdiction over such an ac-
tion without regard to the amount in controversy.’’. 
SEC. 633. MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION. 
Section 134 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2160d) is amended—
(1) in subsection a., by striking ‘‘a. The Com-
mission’’ and inserting ‘‘a. IN GENERAL.—Except as 
provided in subsection b., the Commission’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection b. as subsection 
c.; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection a. the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘b. MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM.—The 
term ‘highly enriched uranium’ means uranium 
enriched to include concentration of U–235 
above 20 percent. 
‘‘(B) MEDICAL ISOTOPE.—The term ‘med-
ical isotope’ includes Molybdenum 99, Iodine
229
131, Xenon 133, and other radioactive mate-
rials used to produce a radiopharmaceutical for 
diagnostic, therapeutic procedures or for re-
search and development. 
‘‘(C) RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL.—The term 
‘radiopharmaceutical’ means a radioactive iso-
tope that—
‘‘(i) contains byproduct material com-
bined with chemical or biological material; 
and 
‘‘(ii) is designed to accumulate tempo-
rarily in a part of the body for therapeutic 
purposes or for enabling the production of 
a useful image for use in a diagnosis of a 
medical condition. 
‘‘(D) RECIPIENT COUNTRY.—The term ‘re-
cipient 
country’ 
means 
Canada, 
Belgium, 
France, Germany, and the Netherlands. 
‘‘(2) LICENSES.—The Commission may issue a 
license authorizing the export (including shipment to 
and use at intermediate and ultimate consignees 
specified in the license) to a recipient country of 
highly enriched uranium for medical isotope produc-
tion if, in addition to any other requirements of this
230
Act (except subsection a.), the Commission deter-
mines that—
‘‘(A) a recipient country that supplies an 
assurance letter to the United States Govern-
ment in connection with the consideration by 
the Commission of the export license applica-
tion has informed the United States Govern-
ment that any intermediate consignees and the 
ultimate consignee specified in the application 
are required to use the highly enriched uranium 
solely to produce medical isotopes; and 
‘‘(B) the highly enriched uranium for med-
ical isotope production will be irradiated only in 
a reactor in a recipient country that—
‘‘(i) uses an alternative nuclear reac-
tor fuel; or 
‘‘(ii) is the subject of an agreement 
with the United States Government to con-
vert to an alternative nuclear reactor fuel 
when alternative nuclear reactor fuel can 
be used in the reactor. 
‘‘(3) REVIEW
OF
PHYSICAL
PROTECTION
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
review the adequacy of physical protection re-
231
quirements that, as of the date of an applica-
tion under paragraph (2), are applicable to the 
transportation and storage of highly enriched 
uranium for medical isotope production or con-
trol of residual material after irradiation and 
extraction of medical isotopes. 
‘‘(B) IMPOSITION
OF
ADDITIONAL
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—If the Commission determines 
that additional physical protection requirements 
are necessary (including a limit on the quantity 
of highly enriched uranium that may be con-
tained in a single shipment), the Commission 
shall impose such requirements as license condi-
tions or through other appropriate means. 
‘‘(4) FIRST REPORT TO CONGRESS.—
‘‘(A) NAS STUDY.—The Secretary shall 
enter into an arrangement with the National 
Academy of Sciences to conduct a study to de-
termine—
‘‘(i) the feasibility of procuring sup-
plies of medical isotopes from commercial 
sources that do not use highly enriched 
uranium;