Title: Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Act
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Act
This bill directs the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy to develop and deploy high-assay low-enriched uranium for domestic commercial use and to develop a schedule for recovering costs associated with such development.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1760 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1760

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2019

  Mr. Flores (for himself and Mr. McNerney) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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 domestic commercial use.
    (b) Program Elements.--In carrying out the program under subsection 
(a), the Secretary--
            (1) may provide financial assistance to assist commercial 
        entities to design and license transportation packages for HA-
        LEU, including canisters for metal, gas, and other HA-LEU 
        compositions;
            (2) shall, to the extent practicable--
                    (A) by January 1, 2022, have commercial entities 
                submit such transportation package designs 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, 2024;
            (3) not later than January 1, 2021, shall submit to 
        Congress a report on the Department's uranium inventory that 
        may be available to be processed 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 enactment of 
        this Act, and biennially thereafter through September 30, 2026, 
        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 Secretary to 
        acquire HA-LEU for such program, including an assessment, for 
        each such option, of the cost and amount of time required;
            (6) shall establish a consortium, which may include 
        entities involved in any stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, to 
        partner with the Department to support the availability of HA-
        LEU for domestic commercial use, including by--
                    (A) providing information to the Secretary for 
                purposes of surveys conducted under paragraph (4); and
                    (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 available 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 practicable, to make such HA-LEU 
        available to members of the consortium beginning not later than 
        January 1, 2026, 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 Commission, 
        criticality benchmark data to assist the Commission in--
                    (A) the licensing and regulation of category II 
                spent nuclear material fuel fabrication and enrichment 
                facilities under part 70 of title 10, Code of Federal 
                Regulations; and
                    (B) certification of transportation packages 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 ensure that 
                not less than 20 percent of the costs of design and 
                license activities carried out pursuant to subsection 
                (b)(1) are paid by a non-Federal entity.
                    (B) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 
                (b)(1)--
                            (i) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2020;
                            (ii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
                            (iii) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2022.
            (2) DOE acquisition of ha-leu.--The Secretary may not make 
        commitments under this section (including cooperative 
        agreements (used in accordance 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 purposes in advance in 
        subsequent appropriations Acts, and only to the extent that the 
        full extent of anticipated costs stemming from such commitments 
        is recorded as an obligation up front and in full at the time 
        it is made.
            (3) Other costs.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        subsection, in carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 
        use amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated to the 
        Secretary.
    (e) Sunset.--The authority of the Secretary to carry out the 
program under this section shall expire on September 30, 2034.

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, 
        certifications, and other regulatory policies that the 
        Commission determines are necessary in order for HA-LEU to be 
        commercially available, including--
                    (A) guidance for material control and 
                accountability of category II special nuclear material;
                    (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 facilities;
            (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 and less than 20.0 percent enrichment of the 
        uranium-235 isotope.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
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