Nuclear Energy Leadership Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3306 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2019 Mrs. LURIA (for herself, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Mr. LAMB, and Mr. WITTMAN) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Reform, and Armed Services, 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 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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3306 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Energy Lead- 2 ership Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF LONG-TERM POWER PUR- 4 CHASE AGREEMENTS. 5 Section 501(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code, is 6 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY CONTRACTS.— 9 ‘‘(i) TERM.— 10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A contract 11 under this paragraph to purchase 12 electricity from a public utility may be 13 for a period of not more than 40 14 years. 15 ‘‘(II) OTHER PUBLIC UTILITY 16 SERVICES.—A contract under this 17 paragraph for a public utility service 18 other than a service described in sub- 19 clause (I) may be for a period of not 20 more than 10 years. 21 ‘‘(ii) COSTS.—The cost of a contract 22 under this paragraph for any fiscal year 23 may be paid from the appropriations for 24 that fiscal year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3306 IH SEC. 3. LONG-TERM NUCLEAR POWER PURCHASE AGREE- 1 MENT PILOT PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title VI of the En- 3 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 4 782) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 640. LONG-TERM NUCLEAR POWER PURCHASE 6 AGREEMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab- 8 lish a pilot program for a long-term power purchase agree- 9 ment. 10 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the pilot pro- 11 gram under this section, the Secretary shall— 12 ‘‘(1) consult and coordinate with the heads of 13 other Federal departments and agencies that may 14 benefit from purchasing nuclear power for a period 15 of longer than 10 years, including— 16 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Defense; and 17 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 18 and 19 ‘‘(2) not later than December 31, 2023, enter 20 into at least 1 agreement to purchase power from a 21 commercial nuclear reactor that receives a license 22 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after Jan- 23 uary 1, 2019. 24 ‘‘(c) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec- 1 tion, the Secretary shall give special consideration to 2 power purchase agreements for first-of-a-kind or 3 early deployment nuclear technologies that can pro- 4 vide reliable and resilient power to high-value assets 5 for national security purposes or other purposes as 6 the Secretary determines to be in the national inter- 7 est, especially in remote off-grid scenarios or grid- 8 connected scenarios that can provide capabilities 9 commonly known as ‘islanding power capabilities’ 10 during an emergency scenario. 11 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON RATES.—An agreement to 12 purchase power under this section may be at a rate 13 that is higher than the average market rate, if the 14 agreement fulfills an applicable consideration de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1).’’. 16 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 17 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 18 Stat. 594) is amended by inserting after the item relating 19 to section 639 the following: 20 ‘‘Sec. 640. Long-term nuclear power purchase agreement pilot program.’’. SEC. 4. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH AND DE- 21 VELOPMENT GOALS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title IX of the En- 23 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is 24 amended by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘SEC. 959A. ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR RESEARCH 1 AND DEVELOPMENT GOALS. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.—The 4 term ‘advanced nuclear reactor’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a 6 prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 7 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations 8 (or successor regulations)), with significant im- 9 provements compared to the most recent gen- 10 eration of fission reactors, including improve- 11 ments such as— 12 ‘‘(i) additional inherent safety fea- 13 tures; 14 ‘‘(ii) lower waste yields; 15 ‘‘(iii) improved fuel performance; 16 ‘‘(iv) increased tolerance to loss of 17 fuel cooling; 18 ‘‘(v) enhanced reliability; 19 ‘‘(vi) increased proliferation resist- 20 ance; 21 ‘‘(vii) increased thermal efficiency; 22 ‘‘(viii) reduced consumption of cooling 23 water; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(ix) the ability to integrate into elec- 1 tric applications and nonelectric applica- 2 tions; 3 ‘‘(x) modular sizes to allow for deploy- 4 ment that corresponds with the demand 5 for electricity; or 6 ‘‘(xi) operational flexibility to respond 7 to changes in demand for electricity and to 8 complement integration with intermittent 9 renewable energy; and 10 ‘‘(B) a fusion reactor. 11 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 12 ‘demonstration project’ means an advanced nuclear 13 reactor operated— 14 ‘‘(A) as part of the power generation facili- 15 ties of an electric utility system; or 16 ‘‘(B) in any other manner for the purpose 17 of demonstrating the suitability for commercial 18 application of the advanced nuclear reactor. 19 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di- 20 rect the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date 21 of enactment of this section, to advance the research and 22 development of domestic advanced, affordable, and clean 23 nuclear energy by— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(1) demonstrating different advanced nuclear 1 reactor technologies that could be used by the pri- 2 vate sector to produce— 3 ‘‘(A) emission-free power at a levelized cost 4 of electricity of $60 per megawatt-hour or less; 5 ‘‘(B) heat for community heating, indus- 6 trial purposes, or synthetic fuel production; 7 ‘‘(C) remote or off-grid energy supply; or 8 ‘‘(D) backup or mission-critical power sup- 9 plies; 10 ‘‘(2) developing subgoals for nuclear energy re- 11 search programs that would accomplish the goals of 12 the demonstration projects carried out under sub- 13 section (c); 14 ‘‘(3) identifying research areas that the private 15 sector is unable or unwilling to undertake due to the 16 cost of, or risks associated with, the research; and 17 ‘‘(4) facilitating the access of the private sec- 18 tor— 19 ‘‘(A) to Federal research facilities and per- 20 sonnel; and 21 ‘‘(B) to the results of research relating to 22 civil nuclear technology funded by the Federal 23 Government. 24 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 1 maximum extent practicable— 2 ‘‘(A) complete not fewer than two ad- 3 vanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects 4 by not later than December 31, 2025; and 5 ‘‘(B) establish a program to demonstrate 6 not fewer than two, and not more than five, ad- 7 ditional operational advanced reactor designs by 8 not later than December 31, 2035. 9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out dem- 10 onstration projects under paragraph (1), the Sec- 11 retary shall— 12 ‘‘(A) include diversity in designs for the 13 advanced nuclear reactors demonstrated under 14 this section, including designs using various— 15 ‘‘(i) primary coolants; 16 ‘‘(ii) fuel types and compositions; and 17 ‘‘(iii) neutron spectra; 18 ‘‘(B) seek to ensure that— 19 ‘‘(i) the long-term cost of electricity or 20 heat for each design to be demonstrated 21 under this subsection is cost-competitive in 22 the applicable market; 23 ‘‘(ii) the selected projects can meet 24 the deadline established in paragraph (1) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3306 IH to demonstrate first-of-a-kind advanced 1 nuclear reactor technologies, for which ad- 2 ditional information shall be considered, in- 3 cluding— 4 ‘‘(I) the technology readiness 5 level of a proposed advanced nuclear 6 reactor technology; 7 ‘‘(II) the technical abilities and 8 qualifications of teams desiring to 9 partner with the Department to dem- 10 onstrate a proposed advanced nuclear 11 reactor technology; and 12 ‘‘(III) the capacity to meet cost- 13 share requirements of the Depart- 14 ment; 15 ‘‘(C) ensure that each evaluation of can- 16 didate technologies for the demonstration 17 projects is completed through an external re- 18 view of proposed designs, which review shall— 19 ‘‘(i) be conducted by a panel that in- 20 cludes not fewer than 1 representative of 21 each of— 22 ‘‘(I) an electric utility; and 23 ‘‘(II) an entity that uses high- 24 temperature process heat for manu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3306 IH facturing or industrial processing, 1 such as a petrochemical company, a 2 manufacturer of metals, or a manu- 3 facturer of concrete; and 4 ‘‘(ii) include a review of cost-competi- 5 tiveness and other value streams, together 6 with the technology readiness level, of each 7 design to be demonstrated under this sub- 8 section; 9 ‘‘(D) enter into cost-sharing agreements 10 with partners in accordance with section 988 11 for the conduct of activities relating to the re- 12 search, development, and demonstration of pri- 13 vate-sector advanced nuclear reactor designs 14 under the program; 15 ‘‘(E) work with private sector partners to 16 identify potential sites, including Department- 17 owned sites, for demonstrations, as appropriate; 18 and 19 ‘‘(F) align specific activities carried out 20 under demonstration projects carried out under 21 this subsection with priorities identified through 22 direct consultations between— 23 ‘‘(i) the Department; 24 ‘‘(ii) National Laboratories; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(iii) institutions of higher education; 1 ‘‘(iv) traditional end-users (such as 2 electric utilities); 3 ‘‘(v) potential end-users of new tech- 4 nologies (such as users of high-tempera- 5 ture process heat for manufacturing proc- 6 essing, including petrochemical companies, 7 manufacturers of metals, or manufacturers 8 of concrete); and 9 ‘‘(vi) developers of advanced nuclear 10 reactor technology. 11 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In car- 12 rying out demonstration projects under paragraph 13 (1), the Secretary shall— 14 ‘‘(A) identify candidate technologies that— 15 ‘‘(i) are not developed sufficiently for 16 demonstration within the initial required 17 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(A); 18 but 19 ‘‘(ii) could be demonstrated within the 20 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(B); 21 ‘‘(B) identify technical challenges to the 22 candidate technologies identified in subpara- 23 graph (A); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(C) support near-term research and devel- 1 opment to address the highest-risk technical 2 challenges to the successful demonstration of a 3 selected advanced reactor technology, in accord- 4 ance with— 5 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (B); and 6 ‘‘(ii) the research and development ac- 7 tivities under section 958; 8 ‘‘(D) establish such technology advisory 9 working groups as the Secretary determines to 10 be appropriate to advise the Secretary regard- 11 ing the technical challenges identified under 12 subparagraph (B) and the scope of research 13 and development programs to address the chal- 14 lenges, in accordance with subparagraph (C), to 15 be comprised of— 16 ‘‘(i) private-sector advanced nuclear 17 reactor technology developers; 18 ‘‘(ii) technical experts with respect to 19 the relevant technologies at institutions of 20 higher education; and 21 ‘‘(iii) technical experts at the National 22 Laboratories. 23 ‘‘(d) GOALS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3306.IH H3306 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 3306 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab- 1 lish goals for research relating to advanced nuclear 2 reactors facilitated by the Department that support 3 the objectives of the program for demonstration 4 projects established under subsection (c). 5 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—In developing the goals 6 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate, 7 on an ongoing basis, with members of private indus- 8 try to advance the demonstration of various designs 9 of advanced nuclear reactors. 10 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the goals 11 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 12 that— 13 ‘‘(A) research activities facilitated by the 14 Department to [Text truncated for display. 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