Title: Defending Against Rosatom Exports Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Defending Against Rosatom Exports Act
This bill extends limits on the importation of Russian low-enriched uranium, a fuel for nuclear reactors, and contains other related provisions. (These limits stem from a 1992 agreement with Russia to end a Department of Commerce antidumping investigation into Russian uranium imports.)
The bill extends these limits, which are currently set to expire in 2020, to 2035. The bill also specifies the maximum amounts of qualifying uranium that may be imported each year for 2021-2035.
Currently, qualifying uranium imported for use in the initial core of a new reactor or for the Department of Energy inventory does not count against these limits. The bill eliminates these two exceptions but maintains an exception for uranium imported for reprocessing and reexportation.
No more than 25% of qualifying uranium may be imported each year under a contract other than a contract exclusively for separative work units. (A separative work unit is the standard unit of measurement for effort expended to enrich uranium.)

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7141 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7141

 To extend limitations on the importation of uranium from the Russian 
                  Federation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2020

  Ms. Torres Small of New Mexico (for herself and Mr. Bishop of Utah) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
   Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, 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 extend limitations on the importation of uranium from the Russian 
                  Federation, 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 ``Defending Against Rosatom Exports 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Russia has repeatedly used its energy resources as a 
        tool to advance its policy goals and as a weapon to manipulate 
        the decisions of other countries.
            (2) Such efforts include the nuclear energy sector, in 
        which the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation (ROSATOM) 
        uses subsidies and other state support to advance the political 
        goals of Russia's leadership.
            (3) Russia has long sought to expand its role and influence 
        in the nuclear energy sector of the United States and of United 
        States allies and partners.
            (4) Since October 1992, the Department of Commerce has 
        suspended an antidumping duty investigation involving uranium 
        from Russia on the basis of an agreement by Russia to restrict 
        the volume of exports of uranium to the United States in order 
        to prevent the suppression or undercutting of price levels of 
        United States uranium.
            (5) That agreement to suspend such antidumping duty 
        investigation is set to expire at the end of 2020.
            (6) Section 3112A of the USEC Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 
        2997h-10a), commonly known as the ``Domenici Amendment'', 
        provides limits on the importation into the United States of 
        low-enriched uranium produced in Russia through 2020.
            (7) While Russia has mounted a disinformation campaign 
        regarding the suitability of using nuclear fuel produced by 
        United States companies in Russian-built nuclear reactors, 
        ROSATOM is seeking to produce nuclear fuel for use in United 
        States reactors.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

     It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) ensure that the United States is not dependent on 
        Russian energy sources, including low-enriched uranium and the 
        inputs for nuclear fuel;
            (2) assist United States allies and partner countries to 
        reduce their dependency on Russian energy sources, including 
        nuclear power and the inputs for nuclear fuel; and
            (3) use all necessary tools, including the Department of 
        Commerce's entity list, to ensure that technology transferred 
        to entities in Russia's civil nuclear sector do not--
                    (A) in any way contribute to Russia's nuclear 
                weapons program; or
                    (B) enable Russia to expand its export of nuclear 
                power to the United States or United States allies and 
                partners.

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF LIMITATIONS ON IMPORTATION OF URANIUM FROM THE 
              RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 3112A(c) of the USEC Privatization Act (42 
U.S.C. 2297h-10a(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (vi), by striking ``; and'' 
                        and inserting a semicolon;
                            (ii) in clause (vii), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
                        and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(viii) in calendar year 2021, 362,045 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(ix) in calendar year 2022, 356,499 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(x) in calendar year 2023, 351,242 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xi) in calendar year 2024, 346,974 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xii) in calendar year 2025, 342,489 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xiii) in calendar year 2026, 337,979 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xiv) in calendar year 2027, 334,266 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xv) in calendar year 2028, 334,266 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xvi) in calendar year 2029, 330,190 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xvii) in calendar year 2030, 322,450 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xviii) in calendar year 2031, 319,267 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xix) in calendar year 2032, 312,853 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xx) in calendar year 2033, 308,271 
                        kilograms;
                            ``(xxi) in calendar year 2034, 289,390 
                        kilograms; and
                            ``(xxii) in calendar year 2035, 285,918 
                        kilograms.'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                subparagraph (C); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following:
                    ``(B) Separative work units requirement.--Not more 
                than 25 percent of the quantity of low-enriched uranium 
                produced in the Russian Federation and imported under 
                subparagraph (A) in any year may be imported under 
                contracts other than contracts exclusively for 
                separative work units.'';
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``United States--'' and 
        all that follows and inserting the following: ``United States 
        for processing and to be certified for reexportation and not 
        for consumption in the United States.'';
            (3) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``reference data'' and all 
                        that follows through ``2019'' and inserting the 
                        following: ``Lower Scenario data in the 2019 
                        report of the World Nuclear Association 
                        entitled `The Nuclear Fuel Report: Global 
                        Scenarios for Demand and Supply Availability 
                        2019-2040'. In each of calendar years 2022, 
                        2025, 2028, 2031, and 2034''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``report or a subsequent 
                        report'' and inserting ``report'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
                subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively;
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 
                following:
                    ``(B) Report required.--Not later than one year 
                after the date of the enactment of the Defending 
                Against Rosatom Exports Act, and every 3 years 
                thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to 
                Congress a report that includes--
                            ``(i) a recommendation on the use of all 
                        publicly available data to ensure accurate 
                        forecasting by scenario data to comport to 
                        actual demand for low-enriched uranium for 
                        nuclear reactors in the United States; and
                            ``(ii) an identification of the steps to be 
                        taken to adjust the import limitations 
                        described in paragraph (2)(A) based on the most 
                        accurate scenario data.''; and
                    (D) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, by striking 
                ``subparagraph (B)'' and inserting ``subparagraph 
                (C)'';
            (4) in paragraph (7)(A), by striking ``0.3 percent'' and 
        inserting ``0.16 percent'';
            (5) in paragraph (9), by striking ``2020'' and inserting 
        ``2035''; and
            (6) by striking ``(2)(B)'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``(2)(C)''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a) apply 
with respect to uranium imported from the Russian Federation on or 
after January 1, 2021.

SEC. 5. REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Secretary of State.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report, which shall be in an 
unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex, that provides an 
assessment of Russia's attempts to use its civil nuclear sector as a 
tool of malign influence and includes the following elements:
            (1) An analysis of the extent to which Russian civil 
        nuclear-related enterprises advance policy goals of Russia 
        instead of strictly commercial interests.
            (2) A description of Russian efforts to increase their role 
        in the civil nuclear sector of the United States and United 
        States allies and partners.
            (3) A description of Russian disinformation efforts against 
        United States and other non-Russian civil nuclear-related 
        companies.
            (4) An analysis of the national security threat posed by 
        deeper Russian involvement in the civil nuclear sector of the 
        United States.
            (5) A description of any links between Russia's civil 
        nuclear sector and its nuclear weapons program.
    (b) Secretary of Energy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report, which shall be in an 
unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex, that describes 
any ongoing efforts by the United States Government or United States 
persons to introduce Russian-fabricated or Russian-designed nuclear 
fuel into reactors located in the United States.
    (c) Secretary of Commerce.--Not later than July 1, 2020, or 30 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, whichever is later, the 
Secretary of Commerce shall provide a briefing to the appropriate 
congressional committees on the status of negotiations to extend beyond 
2020 the agreement to suspend the antidumping duty investigation 
limiting the importation into the United States of low-enriched uranium 
produced in Russia.

SEC. 6. DEFINITION.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways 
        and Means, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
        House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Finance, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
        the Senate.
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