Twenty-First Century Nuclear Security Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3995 To direct the Secretary of Energy to submit to Congress a report on the global nuclear leadership of the United States. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself and Mrs. LURIA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad- dition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 con- cerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to submit to Congress a report on the global nuclear leadership of the United States. 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 ‘‘Twenty-First Century 4 Nuclear Security Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3995 IH SEC. 2. REPORT ON GLOBAL NUCLEAR LEADERSHIP OF 1 THE UNITED STATES. 2 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than one year after 3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 4 Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the 5 Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Nuclear Regu- 6 latory Commission, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 7 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 8 port analyzing— 9 (1) the opportunities for advancing the interests 10 of the United States with respect to global nuclear 11 safety, nuclear security, and nuclear nonprolifera- 12 tion; and 13 (2) the risks to such interests of the United 14 States, and the risks to wider foreign policy influ- 15 ence by the United States, posed by the dominance 16 of Russia in the global nuclear energy market and 17 the increasing supply by China to such market. 18 (b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The report under sub- 19 section (a) shall include the following: 20 (1) An assessment of the historical role of civil 21 nuclear cooperation agreements and supply arrange- 22 ments made pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 23 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) in influencing the 24 policies and practices of foreign governments con- 25 cerning nuclear safety, nuclear security, and nuclear 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3995 IH nonproliferation, and the wider foreign policy inter- 1 ests, including— 2 (A) a description of possible opportunities 3 for using nuclear cooperation agreements and 4 related exports to improve nuclear safety, nu- 5 clear security, and nuclear nonproliferation, and 6 the foreign policy interests of the United States; 7 (B) a description of potential risks associ- 8 ated with such agreements and nuclear exports; 9 and 10 (C) a description of the potential market 11 for small and advanced reactor technologies. 12 (2) An assessment of the competitiveness of the 13 United States against Russia and China in the glob- 14 al nuclear energy market, including— 15 (A) a comparison of nuclear reactor re- 16 search and design by Russia and China with 17 analogous research and design by the United 18 States; 19 (B) a comparison of the ability of Russia 20 and China to produce and export nuclear tech- 21 nology with analogous abilities of the United 22 States; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3995 IH (C) a description of the factors enabling 1 progress made by Russia and China regarding 2 civil nuclear technology; 3 (D) a comparison of the export policies of 4 the United States with regard to civil nuclear 5 technology, including the role, if any, of finan- 6 cial support, with such policies of Russia and 7 China; 8 (E) a list of specific reactor designs, in- 9 cluding fuel characteristics, that Russia and 10 China have offered for export; and 11 (F) details of any agreements made by 12 Russia or China for exporting nuclear tech- 13 nology, including the duration, purchase price, 14 potential profitability, any provisions regarding 15 spent fuel take back, related regulatory support, 16 and any other elements that compromise a com- 17 petitive offer. 18 (3) An assessment, if applicable, of the means 19 by which Russia or China uses foreign-origin dual- 20 use nuclear technology for military purposes. 21 (4) Recommendations for regulatory or legisla- 22 tive actions for developing a robust free-enterprise 23 response designed to improve the competitiveness of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3995 IH the United States in the global nuclear energy mar- 1 ket. 2 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 3 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 4 sional committees’’ means— 5 (1) the congressional defense committees (as 6 defined in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United 7 States Code); 8 (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 9 sources, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and 10 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; 11 and 12 (3) the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 13 the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma- 14 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 15 of Representatives. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3995.IH H3995 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS