Nuclear Energy Leadership Act

II Calendar No. 217 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 903 [Report No. 116–114] To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish advanced nuclear goals, provide for a versatile, reactor-based fast neutron source, make available high- assay, low-enriched uranium for research, development, and demonstra- tion of advanced nuclear reactor concepts, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 27, 2019 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. RISCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. COONS, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. JONES, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BRAUN, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish advanced nuclear goals, provide for a versatile, reactor-based fast neutron source, make available high-assay, low-enriched uranium for research, development, and demonstration of advanced nuclear reactor concepts, and for other pur- poses. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 903 RS 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 ‘‘Nuclear Energy Lead- 4 ership Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF LONG-TERM POWER PUR- 6 CHASE AGREEMENTS. 7 Section 501(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code, is 8 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY CONTRACTS.— 11 ‘‘(i) TERM.— 12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A contract 13 under this paragraph to purchase 14 electricity from a public utility may be 15 for a period of not more than 40 16 years. 17 ‘‘(II) OTHER PUBLIC UTILITY 18 SERVICES.—A contract under this 19 paragraph for a public utility service 20 other than a service described in sub- 21 clause (I) may be for a period of not 22 more than 10 years. 23 ‘‘(ii) COSTS.—The cost of a contract 24 under this paragraph for any fiscal year 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 903 RS may be paid from the appropriations for 1 that fiscal year.’’. 2 SEC. 3. LONG-TERM NUCLEAR POWER PURCHASE AGREE- 3 MENT PILOT PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title VI of the En- 5 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 6 782) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 640. LONG-TERM NUCLEAR POWER PURCHASE 8 AGREEMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab- 10 lish a pilot program for a long-term power purchase agree- 11 ment. 12 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the pilot pro- 13 gram under this section, the Secretary shall— 14 ‘‘(1) consult and coordinate with the heads of 15 other Federal departments and agencies that may 16 benefit from purchasing nuclear power for a period 17 of longer than 10 years, including— 18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Defense; and 19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 20 and 21 ‘‘(2) not later than December 31, 2023, enter 22 into at least 1 agreement to purchase power from a 23 commercial nuclear reactor that receives a license 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 903 RS from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after Jan- 1 uary 1, 2019. 2 ‘‘(c) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec- 4 tion, the Secretary shall give special consideration to 5 power purchase agreements for first-of-a-kind or 6 early deployment nuclear technologies that can pro- 7 vide reliable and resilient power to high-value assets 8 for national security purposes or other purposes as 9 the Secretary determines to be in the national inter- 10 est, especially in remote off-grid scenarios or grid- 11 connected scenarios that can provide capabilities 12 commonly known as ‘islanding power capabilities’ 13 during an emergency scenario. 14 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON RATES.—An agreement to 15 purchase power under this section may be at a rate 16 that is higher than the average market rate, if the 17 agreement fulfills an applicable consideration de- 18 scribed in paragraph (1).’’. 19 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 20 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 21 Stat. 594) is amended by inserting after the item relating 22 to section 639 the following: 23 ‘‘Sec. 640. Long-term nuclear power purchase agreement pilot program.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6411 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 903 RS SEC. 4. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH AND DE- 1 VELOPMENT GOALS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title IX of the En- 3 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 959A. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH 6 AND DEVELOPMENT GOALS. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The 9 term ‘advanced nuclear reactor’ means— 10 ‘‘(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a 11 prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 12 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 13 (or successor regulations)), with significant im- 14 provements compared to the most recent gen- 15 eration of fission reactors, including improve- 16 ments such as— 17 ‘‘(i) additional inherent safety fea- 18 tures; 19 ‘‘(ii) lower waste yields; 20 ‘‘(iii) improved fuel performance; 21 ‘‘(iv) increased tolerance to loss of 22 fuel cooling; 23 ‘‘(v) enhanced reliability; 24 ‘‘(vi) increased proliferation resist- 25 ance; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 903 RS ‘‘(vii) increased thermal efficiency; 1 ‘‘(viii) reduced consumption of cooling 2 water; 3 ‘‘(ix) the ability to integrate into elec- 4 tric applications and nonelectric applica- 5 tions; 6 ‘‘(x) modular sizes to allow for deploy- 7 ment that corresponds with the demand 8 for electricity; or 9 ‘‘(xi) operational flexibility to respond 10 to changes in demand for electricity and to 11 complement integration with intermittent 12 renewable energy; and 13 ‘‘(B) a fusion reactor. 14 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 15 ‘demonstration project’ means an advanced nuclear 16 reactor operated— 17 ‘‘(A) as part of the power generation facili- 18 ties of an electric utility system; or 19 ‘‘(B) in any other manner for the purpose 20 of demonstrating the suitability for commercial 21 application of the advanced nuclear reactor. 22 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di- 23 rect the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date 24 of enactment of this section, to advance the research and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 903 RS development of domestic advanced, affordable, and clean 1 nuclear energy by— 2 ‘‘(1) demonstrating different advanced nuclear 3 reactor technologies that could be used by the pri- 4 vate sector to produce— 5 ‘‘(A) emission-free power at a levelized cost 6 of electricity of $60 per megawatt-hour or less; 7 ‘‘(B) heat for community heating, indus- 8 trial purposes, or synthetic fuel production; 9 ‘‘(C) remote or off-grid energy supply; or 10 ‘‘(D) backup or mission-critical power sup- 11 plies; 12 ‘‘(2) developing subgoals for nuclear energy re- 13 search programs that would accomplish the goals of 14 the demonstration projects carried out under sub- 15 section (c); 16 ‘‘(3) identifying research areas that the private 17 sector is unable or unwilling to undertake due to the 18 cost of, or risks associated with, the research; and 19 ‘‘(4) facilitating the access of the private sec- 20 tor— 21 ‘‘(A) to Federal research facilities and per- 22 sonnel; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 903 RS ‘‘(B) to the results of research relating to 1 civil nuclear technology funded by the Federal 2 Government. 3 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 5 maximum extent practicable— 6 ‘‘(A) complete not fewer than 2 advanced 7 nuclear reactor demonstration projects by not 8 later than December 31, 2025; and 9 ‘‘(B) establish a program to demonstrate 10 not fewer than 2, and not more than 5, addi- 11 tional operational advanced reactor designs by 12 not later than December 31, 2035. 13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out dem- 14 onstration projects under paragraph (1), the Sec- 15 retary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) include diversity in designs for the 17 advanced nuclear reactors demonstrated under 18 this section, including designs using various— 19 ‘‘(i) primary coolants; 20 ‘‘(ii) fuel types and compositions; and 21 ‘‘(iii) neutron spectra; 22 ‘‘(B) seek to ensure that— 23 ‘‘(i) the long-term cost of electricity or 24 heat for each design to be demonstrated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 903 RS under this subsection is cost-competitive in 1 the applicable market; 2 ‘‘(ii) the selected projects can meet 3 the deadline established in paragraph (1) 4 to demonstrate first-of-a-kind advanced 5 nuclear reactor technologies, for which ad- 6 ditional information shall be considered, in- 7 cluding— 8 ‘‘(I) the technology readiness 9 level of a proposed advanced nuclear 10 reactor technology; 11 ‘‘(II) the technical abilities and 12 qualifications of teams desiring to 13 partner with the Department to dem- 14 onstrate a proposed advanced nuclear 15 reactor technology; and 16 ‘‘(III) the capacity to meet cost- 17 share requirements of the Depart- 18 ment; 19 ‘‘(C) ensure that each evaluation of can- 20 didate technologies for the demonstration 21 projects is completed through an external re- 22 view of proposed designs, which review shall— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 903 RS ‘‘(i) be conducted by a panel that in- 1 cludes not fewer than 1 representative of 2 each of— 3 ‘‘(I) an electric utility; and 4 ‘‘(II) an entity that uses high- 5 temperature process heat for manu- 6 facturing or industrial processing, 7 such as a petrochemical company, a 8 manufacturer of metals, or a manu- 9 facturer of concrete; and 10 ‘‘(ii) include a review of cost-competi- 11 tiveness and other value streams, together 12 with the technology readiness level, of each 13 design to be demonstrated under this sub- 14 section; 15 ‘‘(D) enter into cost-sharing agreements 16 with partners in accordance with section 988 17 for the conduct of activities relating to the re- 18 search, development, and demonstration of pri- 19 vate-sector advanced nuclear reactor designs 20 under the program; 21 ‘‘(E) work with private sector partners to 22 identify potential sites, including Department- 23 owned sites, for demonstrations, as appropriate; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 903 RS ‘‘(F) align specific activities carried out 1 under demonstration projects carried out under 2 this subsection with priorities identified through 3 direct consultations between— 4 ‘‘(i) the Department; 5 ‘‘(ii) National Laboratories; 6 ‘‘(iii) institutions of higher education; 7 ‘‘(iv) traditional end-users (such as 8 electric utilities); 9 ‘‘(v) potential end-users of new tech- 10 nologies (such as users of high-tempera- 11 ture process heat for manufacturing proc- 12 essing, including petrochemical companies, 13 manufacturers of metals, or manufacturers 14 of concrete); and 15 ‘‘(vi) developers of advanced nuclear 16 reactor technology. 17 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In car- 18 rying out demonstration projects under paragraph 19 (1), the Secretary shall— 20 ‘‘(A) identify candidate technologies that— 21 ‘‘(i) are not developed sufficiently for 22 demonstration within the initial required 23 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(A); 24 but 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 903 RS ‘‘(ii) could be demonstrated within the 1 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(B); 2 ‘‘(B) identify technical challenges to the 3 candidate technologies identified in subpara- 4 graph (A); 5 ‘‘(C) support near-term research and devel- 6 opment to address the highest-risk technical 7 challenges to the successful demonstration of a 8 selected advanced reactor technology, in accord- 9 ance with— 10 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (B); and 11 ‘‘(ii) the research and development ac- 12 tivities under section 958; 13 ‘‘(D) establish such technology advisory 14 working groups as the Secretary determines to 15 be appropriate to advise the Secretary regard- 16 ing the technical challenges identified under 17 subparagraph (B) and the scope of research 18 and development programs to address the chal- 19 lenges, in accordance with subparagraph (C), to 20 be comprised of— 21 ‘‘(i) private-sector advanced nuclear 22 reactor technology developers; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S903.RS S903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 903 RS ‘‘(ii) technical experts with respect to 1 the relevant technologies at institutions of 2 higher education; and 3 ‘‘(iii) technical experts at the National 4 Laboratories. 5 ‘‘(d) GOALS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab- 7 lish goals for research relating to advanced nuclear 8 reactors facilitated by the Department that support 9 the objectives of the program for demonstration 10 projects established under subsection (c). 11 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—In developing the goals 12 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate, 13 on an ongoing basis, with members of private indus- 14 try to advance the demonstration of various designs 15 of advanced nuclear reactors. 16 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the goals 17 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure [Text truncated for display. 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