Strengthening American Nuclear Competitiveness Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1748 To assess and improve the competitiveness of American civilian nuclear com- merce, to expedite Department of Energy review of certain nuclear tech- nology exports, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 10, 2021 Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) 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 com- mittee concerned A BILL To assess and improve the competitiveness of American civil- ian nuclear commerce, to expedite Department of Energy review of certain nuclear technology exports, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Amer- 4 ican Nuclear Competitiveness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1748 IH SEC. 2. COMPETITIVENESS OF NUCLEAR COMMERCE. 1 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 2 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall 3 develop and submit to Congress a report on United States 4 civilian nuclear commerce. 5 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report re- 6 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy shall 7 consult with— 8 (1) the Secretary of State; 9 (2) the Secretary of Commerce; 10 (3) the Administrator of the Environmental 11 Protection Agency; and 12 (4) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 13 (c) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub- 14 section (a) shall include— 15 (1) an assessment of— 16 (A) legal and regulatory requirements and 17 policies of, and commercial practices in, the 18 United States with respect to the civilian nu- 19 clear industry of the United States; 20 (B) the effects of such practices on such 21 civilian nuclear industry in domestic and for- 22 eign commerce; 23 (C) the role of emerging United States nu- 24 clear technologies and applications of such tech- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1748 IH nologies, including nonelectric applications of 1 those technologies; and 2 (D) the effects of advanced manufacturing 3 and construction methods for nuclear tech- 4 nologies on the costs of such technologies and 5 the civilian nuclear industry of the United 6 States; 7 (2) a comparison of the matters assessed in 8 paragraph (1) with respect to the United States to 9 an assessment of such matters as they apply with 10 respect to foreign countries; 11 (3) recommendations to improve the competi- 12 tiveness of United States civilian nuclear commerce; 13 and 14 (4) recommendations relating to the application 15 of section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 16 (42 U.S.C. 2210) with respect to advanced nuclear 17 technologies. 18 SEC. 3. EXPEDITING NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS. 19 (a) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—Section 57 of the 20 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2077) is amended 21 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 22 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out sub- 24 section b.(2), the Secretary of Energy shall establish 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1748 IH procedures for expedited consideration of requests 1 for authorizations regarding the transfer of a tech- 2 nology that involves a low-proliferation-risk reactor 3 activity described in paragraph (2) of this subsection 4 to a foreign country described in paragraph (3) of 5 this subsection. 6 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A low-proliferation-risk reac- 7 tor activity described in this paragraph is an activity 8 that meets each of following criteria: 9 ‘‘(A) The activity is listed in section 10 810.2(b) of title 10, Code of Federal Regula- 11 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of 12 this Act. 13 ‘‘(B) The activity is not an activity requir- 14 ing a specific authorization pursuant to section 15 810.7(c) of such title, as in effect on such date. 16 ‘‘(C) The Secretary determines that the 17 transfer (or retransfer) of a technology that in- 18 volves the activity will not result in a significant 19 increase of the risk of proliferation beyond such 20 risk that exists at the time that the authoriza- 21 tion is requested. 22 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—A foreign country 23 described in this paragraph is a foreign country— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1748 IH ‘‘(A) that is not a nuclear-weapon State, as 1 defined by Article IX of the Treaty on the Non- 2 Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed at 3 Washington, London, and Moscow on July 1, 4 1968, other than the United Kingdom or 5 France; and 6 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the Secretary 7 determines under subsection b.(2) that a trans- 8 fer to the country of a technology that involves 9 a low-proliferation-risk reactor activity de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection will 11 not be inimical to the interest of the United 12 States. 13 ‘‘(4) CONCURRENCE AND CONSULTATION.—The 14 Secretary of Energy shall establish the procedures 15 under paragraph (1) with the concurrence of the De- 16 partment of State and after consultation with the 17 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of 18 Commerce, and the Department of Defense. 19 ‘‘(5) TIMING AND AVAILABILITY.—The proce- 20 dures established under paragraph (1) shall— 21 ‘‘(A) ensure that each request is approved 22 or denied by not later than 45 days after the 23 later of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1748 IH ‘‘(i) the date on which the foreign 1 country transmits any required assurances 2 to the Department of State; or 3 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the inter- 4 agency review under subsection b. is com- 5 pleted; and 6 ‘‘(B) be publicly available.’’. 7 (b) ASSURANCES.—Section 57(b) of such Act (42 8 U.S.C. 2077(b)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘mecha- 9 nisms.’’ the following new sentence: ‘‘To the extent prac- 10 ticable, the Secretary of Energy shall continue to process 11 such requests during such interagency review in a manner 12 that enables the Secretary to make such determination as 13 soon as practicable after the receipt of assurances by a 14 foreign country to the Department of State, if any such 15 assurances are required.’’. 16 SEC. 4. LICENSING DOMESTIC NUCLEAR PROJECTS IN 17 WHICH UNITED STATES ALLIES INVEST. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The prohibitions against issuing 19 certain licenses for utilization facilities to certain corpora- 20 tions and other entities described in the second sentence 21 of section 103 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42. 22 U.S.C. 2133(d)) and the second sentence of section 104 23 d. of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2134(d)) shall not apply to an 24 entity described in subsection (b) of this section if the Nu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1748 IH clear Regulatory Commission determines that issuance of 1 the applicable license to that entity is not inimical to— 2 (1) the common defense and security; or 3 (2) the health and safety of the public. 4 (b) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—An entity described in 5 this subsection is a corporation or other entity that is 6 owned, controlled, or dominated by— 7 (1) the government of— 8 (A) a country that is a member of the 9 Group of Seven as of November 25, 2020, 10 which includes the United Kingdom, Germany, 11 Canada, Japan, France, and Italy; or 12 (B) the Republic of Korea; 13 (2) a corporation that is incorporated in a 14 country described in paragraph (1); or 15 (3) an alien who is a national of a country de- 16 scribed in paragraph (1). 17 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 103 d. of the 18 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133(d)) is 19 amended, in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘any any’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘any’’. 21 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section af- 22 fects the requirements of section 721 of the Defense Pro- 23 duction Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1748 IH SEC. 5. LICENSING CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO USE OF 1 NUCLEAR ENERGY FOR NONELECTRIC APPLI- 2 CATIONS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory 5 Commission (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis- 6 sion’’) shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com- 7 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 8 on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report 9 addressing any unique licensing issues or requirements re- 10 lating to— 11 (1) the flexible operation of advanced nuclear 12 reactors, such as ramping power output and switch- 13 ing between electricity generation and nonelectric 14 applications; 15 (2) the use of advanced nuclear reactors exclu- 16 sively for nonelectric applications; and 17 (3) the collocation of advanced nuclear reactors 18 with industrial plants or other facilities. 19 (b) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In developing the report, 20 the Commission shall seek input from— 21 (1) the Secretary of Energy; 22 (2) the nuclear energy industry; 23 (3) technology developers; 24 (4) the industrial, chemical, and medical sec- 25 tors; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1748 IH (5) nongovernmental organizations; and 1 (6) other public stakeholders. 2 (c) CONTENTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report shall describe— 4 (A) any unique licensing issues or require- 5 ments relating to the matters described in para- 6 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a), in- 7 cluding, with respect to the nonelectric applica- 8 tions referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 9 that subsection, any licensing issues or require- 10 ments relating to the use of nuclear energy— 11 (i) for hydrogen or other liquid and 12 gaseous fuel or chemical production; 13 (ii) for water desalination and waste- 14 water treatment; 15 (iii) for heat used in industrial proc- 16 esses; 17 (iv) for district heating; 18 (v) in relation to energy storage; 19 (vi) for industrial or medical isotope 20 production; and 21 (vii) other applications, as identified 22 by the Commission; 23 (B) options for addressing those issues or 24 requirements— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1748 IH (i) within the existing regulatory 1 framework; 2 (ii) through the technology-inclusive, 3 regulatory framework to be established 4 under section 103(a)(4) of the Nuclear En- 5 ergy Innovation and Modernization Act (42 6 U.S.C. 2133 note; Public Law 115–439); 7 or 8 (iii) through a new rulemaking; 9 (C) the extent to which Commission action 10 is needed to implement any matter described in 11 the report; and 12 (D) cost estimates, proposed budgets, and 13 proposed timeframes for implementing risk-in- 14 formed and performance-based regulatory guid- 15 ance for licensing advanced nuclear reactors for 16 nonelectric applications. 17 SEC. 6. REPORT ON ADVANCED METHODS OF MANUFAC- 18 TURING AND CONSTRUCTION FOR NUCLEAR 19 ENERGY PROJECTS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 21 date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory 22 Commission (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commis- 23 sion’’) shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Com- 24 merce of the House of Representatives and the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1748 IH on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report 1 on manufacturing and construction for nuclear energy 2 projects. 3 (b) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In developing the report, 4 the Commission shall seek input from— 5 (1) the Secretary of Energy; 6 (2) the nuclear energy industry; 7 (3) the National Laboratories; 8 (4) institutions of higher education; 9 (5) nuclear and manufacturing technology de- 10 velopers; 11 (6) the manufacturing and construction indus- 12 tries; 13 (7) standards development organizations; 14 (8) labor unions; 15 (9) nongovernmental organizations; and 16 (10) other public stakeholders. 17 (c) CONTENTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report shall— 19 (A) examine any unique licensing issues or 20 requirements relating to the use of— 21 (i) advanced manufacturing tech- 22 niques; and 23 (ii) advanced construction techniques; 24 (B) examine— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1748 IH (i) the requirements for nuclear-grade 1 components in manufacturing and con- 2 struction for nuclear energy projects; 3 (ii) opportunities to use standard ma- 4 terials, parts, or components in manufac- 5 turing and construction for nuclear energy 6 applications; and 7 (iii) opportunities to use standard ma- 8 terials that are in compliance with existing 9 codes to provide acceptable approaches to 10 support or encapsulate new materials that 11 do not yet have applicable codes; 12 (C) identify safety aspects of advanced 13 manufacturing processes and advanced con- 14 struction techniques that are not addressed by 15 existing codes and standards, so that generic 16 guidance may be updated or created as nec- 17 essary by the Commission; 18 (D) identify options for addressing the 19 issues, requirements, and opportunities exam- 20 ined under subparagraphs (A) and (B)— 21 (i) within the existing regulatory 22 framework; or 23 (ii) through a new rulemaking; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1748.IH H1748 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1748 IH (E) describe the extent to which Commis- 1 sion action is needed to implement any matter 2 d [Text truncated for display. 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