What This Bill Does
This bill stops the United States from buying unirradiated low-enriched uranium (uranium that has not been exposed to radiation and is enriched to low levels) that comes from Russia or Russian companies. The bill allows the Secretary of Energy to make exceptions in certain situations, but sets limits on how much Russian uranium can be imported each year until 2040.
Who It Affects
The Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, nuclear power plants operating in the United States, U.S. nuclear energy companies, and the Department of Energy.
Key Provisions
- The ban on importing Russian low-enriched uranium begins 90 days after the bill becomes law, with exceptions allowed through a waiver process (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(1))
- The Secretary of Energy can waive the ban if no other uranium source exists to keep a nuclear reactor running or if importing Russian uranium is in the national interest (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(2)(A))
- The amount of Russian uranium imported each year cannot exceed specific limits: 578,877 kilograms in 2023, dropping to 459,083 kilograms by 2027 (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(2)(B)(i))
- Any waiver expires no later than January 1, 2028 (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(2)(C))
- The Secretary of Energy must notify Congress when issuing a waiver, including identifying who receives it (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(2)(D))
- The ban does not apply to uranium imported by the Department of Energy for national security or non-proliferation purposes (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(3))
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, companies and nuclear plants will no longer be able to import unirradiated low-enriched uranium from Russia starting 90 days after enactment, except in limited situations approved by the Secretary of Energy. The amount of Russian uranium that can enter the United States will decrease year by year until 2027. All restrictions end on December 31, 2040.
Important Definitions
The bill defines "Russian entity" as an organization organized under Russian law or otherwise subject to the Russian government's authority (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(5)).
Effective Date
The ban begins 90 days after the bill is signed into law (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(1)). The entire law expires on December 31, 2040 (Sec. 2(a), subsection (d)(4)).
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 763
To prohibit the importation into the United States of unirradiated low-
enriched uranium that is produced in the Russian Federation or by
a Russian entity, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 9, 2023
Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms.
LUMMIS, Mr. COONS, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources
A BILL
To prohibit the importation into the United States of
unirradiated low-enriched uranium that is produced in
the Russian Federation or by a Russian entity, 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 ‘‘Reduce Russian Ura-
4
nium Imports Act’’.
5
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2
•S 763 IS
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE USEC PRIVATIZATION ACT.
1
(a) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS.—Section 3112A of
2
the USEC Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h–10a) is
3
amended by adding at the end the following:
4
‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS OF LOW-ENRICHED
5
URANIUM.—
6
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Beginning on the date
7
that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of
8
this subsection, and subject to paragraphs (2) and
9
(3), no unirradiated low-enriched uranium that is
10
produced in the Russian Federation or by a Russian
11
entity may be imported into the United States.
12
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—
13
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
14
graphs (B) and (C), the Secretary of Energy, in
15
consultation with the Secretary of State and the
16
Secretary of Commerce, may waive the applica-
17
tion of paragraph (1) to authorize the importa-
18
tion of low-enriched uranium described in that
19
paragraph if the Secretary of Energy deter-
20
mines that—
21
‘‘(i) no alternative viable source of
22
low-enriched uranium is available to sus-
23
tain the continued operation of a nuclear
24
reactor or a United States nuclear energy
25
company; or
26
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3
•S 763 IS
‘‘(ii) importation of low-enriched ura-
1
nium that is produced in the Russian Fed-
2
eration or by a Russian entity is in the na-
3
tional interest.
4
‘‘(B) LIMITATION
ON
AMOUNTS
OF
IM-
5
PORTS OF LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM.—
6
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The importation
7
into the United States of low-enriched ura-
8
nium, including low-enriched uranium ob-
9
tained under contracts for separative work
10
units, that is produced in the Russian Fed-
11
eration or by a Russian entity, whether or
12
not such low-enriched uranium is derived
13
from highly enriched uranium of weapons
14
origin, may not exceed—
15
‘‘(I) in calendar year 2023,
16
578,877 kilograms;
17
‘‘(II) in calendar year 2024,
18
476,536 kilograms;
19
‘‘(III) in calendar year 2025,
20
470,376 kilograms;
21
‘‘(IV) in calendar year 2026,
22
464,183 kilograms; and
23
‘‘(V) in calendar year 2027,
24
459,083 kilograms.
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4
•S 763 IS
‘‘(ii)
ADMINISTRATION.—The
Sec-
1
retary of Commerce shall—
2
‘‘(I) administer the import limita-
3
tions described in clause (i) in accord-
4
ance with the provisions of the Sus-
5
pension Agreement, including the pro-
6
visions
described
in
subsection
7
(c)(2)(B)(i);
8
‘‘(II) be responsible for enforcing
9
the import limitations described in
10
clause (i); and
11
‘‘(III) enforce the import limita-
12
tions described in clause (i) in a man-
13
ner that imposes a minimal burden on
14
the commercial nuclear industry.
15
‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—Any waiver issued
16
under subparagraph (A) shall terminate not
17
later than January 1, 2028.
18
‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—
19
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Upon issuing a
20
waiver under subparagraph (A), the Sec-
21
retary of Energy shall submit to the com-
22
mittees specified in clause (ii) a notifica-
23
tion that a waiver has been issued, which
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5
•S 763 IS
shall include identification of the recipient
1
of the waiver.
2
‘‘(ii) COMMITTEES
SPECIFIED.—The
3
committees specified in this clause are—
4
‘‘(I) the Committee on Energy
5
and Natural Resources and the Com-
6
mittee on Finance of the Senate; and
7
‘‘(II) the Committee on Energy
8
and Commerce and the Committee on
9
Ways and Means of the House of
10
Representatives.
11
‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection does not
12
apply to imports—
13
‘‘(A) by or under contract to the Depart-
14
ment of Energy for national security or non-
15
proliferation purposes; or
16
‘‘(B) of non-uranium isotopes.
17
‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The provisions of this
18
subsection shall terminate on December 31, 2040.
19
‘‘(5) RUSSIAN ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub-
20
section, the term ‘Russian entity’ means an entity
21
organized under the laws of or otherwise subject to
22
the jurisdiction of the Government of the Russian
23
Federation.’’.
24
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6
•S 763 IS
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 3112A(c) of the
1
USEC Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h–10a(c))
2
is amended—
3
(A) in paragraph (2)—
4
(i) in subparagraph (A)—
5
(I) in clause (viii), by inserting
6
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end;
7
(II) in clause (ix), by striking the
8
semicolon and inserting a period; and
9
(III) by striking clauses (x)
10
through (xxvii); and
11
(ii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by strik-
12
ing ‘‘paragraph (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
13
graph (9)’’;
14
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘United
15
States’’ and all that follows through ‘‘for proc-
16
essing’’ and inserting ‘‘United States for proc-
17
essing’’;
18
(C) by striking paragraph (5);
19
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (6)
20
through (12) as paragraphs (5) through (11),
21
respectively;
22
(E) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by
23
subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘In addition to
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7
•S 763 IS
the adjustment under paragraph (5)(A), the’’
1
and inserting ‘‘The’’;
2
(F) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (7),
3
as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘paragraph
4
(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (9)’’;
5
(G) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated,
6
by striking ‘‘December 31, 2040’’ and inserting
7
‘‘the date described in subsection (d)(1)’’; and
8
(H) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (9),
9
as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘paragraphs
10
(2)(C) and (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs
11
(2)(C) and (7)’’.
12
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment to sec-
13
tion 3112A(c)(2)(A)(x) of the USEC Privatization
14
Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h–10a(c)(2)(A)(x)) made by
15
paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection shall take effect
16
on the date that is 90 days after the date of the en-
17
actment of this Act.
18
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:06 Mar 20, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\S763.IS
S763
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS