International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.1646 | Sponsor: Rep. McHenry, Patrick T. (R-NC)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2021
This bill requires the U.S. Executive Director at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (and the U.S. Executive Director at any other international financial institution deemed appropriate) to support financial assistance for the generation and distribution of nuclear energy, consistent with U.S. national security interests.

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States 
Executive Director at the World Bank and other international financial 
 institutions to support assistance for nuclear energy, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Nuclear Energy 
Financing Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Nuclear power provides clean energy with greater 
        reliability than wind or solar energy, and with comparable life 
        cycle greenhouse gas emissions.
            (2) According to W. Gyude Moore, the former Minister of 
        Public Works for Liberia, ``Obstacles to the financing of 
        nuclear power in emerging economies work to prevent countries 
        like my own from industrializing our economies and building 
        climate-resilient infrastructure. This is especially bad timing 
        as the next generation of nuclear technologies, including small 
        modular reactors and microreactors, are especially suitable to 
        emerging markets. Such restrictions are an example of climate 
        injustice, not a reaction against it.''.
            (3) The People's Republic of China and the Russian 
        Federation have sought to export nuclear reactors to Europe, 
        Eurasia, Latin America, and South Asia using technologies 
        which, according to a 2017 study by Columbia University's 
        Center on Global Energy Policy, are associated with higher 
        safety risk than American and Japanese reactor designs.
            (4) In a 2019 letter to congressional leaders, 38 national 
        security experts emphasized the importance of nuclear energy 
        finance to counter Chinese and Russian ambitions, writing: ``In 
        the nuclear energy sector, the initial supply of a reactor 
        typically leads to the supplier's involvement throughout the 
        hundred-year life of the nuclear program, enabling long-term 
        influence on nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation, as 
        well as the ability to advance energy security and broader 
        foreign policy interests.''.
            (5) As Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the 
        International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote in Climate Change and 
        Nuclear Power 2020, ``Nuclear power, currently being generated 
        in 30 countries, is already reducing carbon dioxide emissions 
        by about two gigatons per year. That is the equivalent of 
        taking more than 400 million cars off the road--every year.''. 
        He continued, ``Nuclear power now provides about 10 percent of 
        the world's electricity, but it contributes almost 30 percent 
        of all low carbon electricity. Nuclear power will be essential 
        for achieving the low carbon future which world leaders have 
        agreed to strive for.''.

SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY.

     The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States 
Executive Director at the International Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development and, as the Secretary deems appropriate, the United States 
Executive Director at any other international financial institution (as 
defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial 
Institutions Act), to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United 
States at the institution to support financial assistance for the 
generation and distribution of nuclear energy, consistent with the 
national security interests of the United States.

SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

    The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the requirement of section 
3 on a case-by-base basis upon notifying the Committee on Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate that the waiver is in the national interest of 
the United States, with a detailed explanation of the reasons therefor.

SEC. 5. PROGRESS REPORT.

    The Chairman of the National Advisory Council on International 
Monetary and Financial Policies shall include in the annual report 
required by section 1701 of the International Financial Institutions 
Act a discussion of any progress made in promoting international 
financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of such Act) 
assistance for nuclear energy.

SEC. 6. SUNSET.

    This Act shall have no force or effect after the date that is 10 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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