Advanced Nuclear Energy Technologies Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3358 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out demonstration projects relating to advanced nuclear reactor technologies to support domestic energy needs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 19, 2019 Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out demonstration projects relating to advanced nuclear reactor technologies to sup- port domestic energy needs, 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 ‘‘Advanced Nuclear En- 4 ergy Technologies Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3358 IH SEC. 2. 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 a— 10 ‘‘(A) nuclear fission or fusion reactor, in- 11 cluding a prototype plant (as defined in sections 12 50.2 and 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Reg- 13 ulations (or successor regulations)), with sig- 14 nificant improvements compared to commercial 15 nuclear reactors under construction as of the 16 date of enactment of this section, including im- 17 provements such as— 18 ‘‘(i) additional inherent safety fea- 19 tures; 20 ‘‘(ii) lower waste yields; 21 ‘‘(iii) improved fuel performance; 22 ‘‘(iv) increased tolerance to loss of 23 fuel cooling; 24 ‘‘(v) enhanced reliability; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(vi) increased proliferation resist- 1 ance; 2 ‘‘(vii) increased thermal efficiency; 3 ‘‘(viii) reduced consumption of cooling 4 water; 5 ‘‘(ix) the ability to integrate into elec- 6 tric applications and nonelectric applica- 7 tions; 8 ‘‘(x) modular sizes to allow for deploy- 9 ment that corresponds with the demand 10 for electricity; or 11 ‘‘(xi) operational flexibility to respond 12 to changes in demand for electricity and to 13 complement integration with intermittent 14 renewable energy; and 15 ‘‘(B) a fusion reactor. 16 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The term 17 ‘demonstration project’ means an advanced nuclear 18 reactor operated— 19 ‘‘(A) as part of the power generation facili- 20 ties of an electric utility system; or 21 ‘‘(B) in any other manner for the purpose 22 of demonstrating the suitability for commercial 23 application of the advanced nuclear reactor. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di- 1 rect the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date 2 of enactment of this section, to advance the research and 3 development of domestic advanced, affordable, and clean 4 nuclear energy by— 5 ‘‘(1) demonstrating different advanced nuclear 6 reactor technologies that could be used by the pri- 7 vate sector to produce— 8 ‘‘(A) emission-free power at a cost of $60 9 per mWh or less; 10 ‘‘(B) heat for community heating, indus- 11 trial purposes, or synthetic fuel production; 12 ‘‘(C) remote or off-grid energy supply; or 13 ‘‘(D) backup or mission-critical power sup- 14 plies; 15 ‘‘(2) developing subgoals for nuclear energy re- 16 search programs that would accomplish the goals of 17 the demonstration projects carried out under sub- 18 section (c); 19 ‘‘(3) identifying research areas that the private 20 sector is unable or unwilling to undertake due to the 21 cost of, or risks associated with, the research; and 22 ‘‘(4) facilitating the access of the private sec- 23 tor— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(A) to Federal research facilities and per- 1 sonnel; and 2 ‘‘(B) to the results of research relating to 3 civil nuclear technology funded by the Federal 4 Government. 5 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 7 maximum extent practicable— 8 ‘‘(A) complete not fewer than 2 advanced 9 nuclear reactor demonstration projects by not 10 later than December 31, 2025; and 11 ‘‘(B) establish a program to demonstrate 12 not fewer than 2, and not more than 4 addi- 13 tional operational advanced reactor designs by 14 not later than December 31, 2035. 15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out dem- 16 onstration projects under paragraph (1), the Sec- 17 retary shall— 18 ‘‘(A) include diversity in designs for the 19 advanced nuclear reactors demonstrated under 20 this section, including designs using various— 21 ‘‘(i) primary coolants; 22 ‘‘(ii) fuel types and compositions; and 23 ‘‘(iii) neutron spectra; 24 ‘‘(B) seek to ensure that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(i) the long-term cost of electricity or 1 heat for each design to be demonstrated 2 under this subsection is cost-competitive in 3 the applicable market; and 4 ‘‘(ii) selected projects can meet the 5 deadline established in paragraph (1) to 6 demonstrate first-of-a-kind advanced nu- 7 clear reactor technologies, for which addi- 8 tional information shall be considered, in- 9 cluding— 10 ‘‘(I) the technology readiness 11 level of a proposed advanced nuclear 12 reactor technology; 13 ‘‘(II) the technical abilities and 14 qualifications of a team desiring to 15 partner with the Department to dem- 16 onstrate a proposed advanced nuclear 17 reactor technology; and 18 ‘‘(III) the capacity to meet cost- 19 share requirements of the Depart- 20 ment; 21 ‘‘(C) ensure that each evaluation of can- 22 didate technologies for the demonstration 23 project is completed through an external review 24 of the proposed design, which shall be con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3358 IH ducted by a panel that includes not fewer than 1 1 representative of each of— 2 ‘‘(i) an electric utility relevant to the 3 intended initial deployment market; 4 ‘‘(ii) the local government of the in- 5 tended initial deployment market; and 6 ‘‘(iii) an entity that uses high-tem- 7 perature process heat for manufacturing or 8 industrial processing, such as a petro- 9 chemical company, a manufacturer of met- 10 als, or a manufacturer of concrete, if appli- 11 cable; 12 ‘‘(D) when applicable, enter into cost-shar- 13 ing agreements with partners in accordance 14 with section 988 for the conduct of activities re- 15 lating to the research, development, and dem- 16 onstration of private sector advanced nuclear 17 reactor designs under the program; 18 ‘‘(E) work with private sector partners to 19 identify potential sites, including Department 20 owned sites, for demonstrations, as appropriate; 21 and 22 ‘‘(F) align specific activities carried out 23 under demonstration projects carried out under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3358 IH this subsection with priorities identified through 1 direct consultations between— 2 ‘‘(i) the Department; 3 ‘‘(ii) the National Laboratories; 4 ‘‘(iii) institutions of higher education; 5 ‘‘(iv) traditional end-users (such as 6 electric utilities); 7 ‘‘(v) potential end-users of new tech- 8 nologies (such as users of high-tempera- 9 ture process heat for manufacturing proc- 10 essing, including petrochemical companies, 11 manufacturers of metals, or manufacturers 12 of concrete); and 13 ‘‘(vi) developers of advanced nuclear 14 reactor technology. 15 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In car- 16 rying out demonstration projects under paragraph 17 (1), the Secretary shall— 18 ‘‘(A) identify candidate technologies that— 19 ‘‘(i) are not developed sufficiently for 20 demonstration within the initial required 21 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(A); 22 but 23 ‘‘(ii) could be demonstrated within the 24 timeframe described in paragraph (1)(B); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(B) identify technical challenges to the 1 candidate technologies identified in subpara- 2 graph (A); 3 ‘‘(C) support near-term research and devel- 4 opment to address the highest risk technical 5 challenges to the successful demonstration of a 6 selected advanced reactor technology, in accord- 7 ance with— 8 ‘‘(i) subparagraph (B); and 9 ‘‘(ii) the research and development ac- 10 tivities under section 958; and 11 ‘‘(D) establish such technology advisory 12 working groups as the Secretary determines to 13 be appropriate to advise the Secretary regard- 14 ing the technical challenges identified under 15 subparagraph (B) and the scope of research 16 and development programs to address the chal- 17 lenges, in accordance with subparagraph (C), to 18 be comprised of— 19 ‘‘(i) private sector advanced nuclear 20 reactor technology developers; 21 ‘‘(ii) technical experts with respect to 22 the relevant technologies at institutions of 23 higher education; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(iii) technical experts at the National 1 Laboratories. 2 ‘‘(d) GOALS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab- 4 lish goals for research relating to advanced nuclear 5 reactors facilitated by the Department that support 6 the objectives of the program for demonstration 7 projects established under subsection (c). 8 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—In developing the goals 9 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate, 10 on an ongoing basis, with members of private indus- 11 try to advance the demonstration of various designs 12 of advanced nuclear reactors. 13 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the goals 14 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure 15 that— 16 ‘‘(A) research activities facilitated by the 17 Department to meet the goals developed under 18 this subsection are focused on key areas of nu- 19 clear research and deployment ranging from 20 basic science to full-design development, safety 21 evaluation, and licensing; 22 ‘‘(B) research programs designed to meet 23 the goals emphasize— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(i) resolving materials challenges re- 1 lating to extreme environments, including 2 extremely high levels of— 3 ‘‘(I) radiation fluence; 4 ‘‘(II) temperature; 5 ‘‘(III) pressure; and 6 ‘‘(IV) corrosion; and 7 ‘‘(ii) qualification of advanced fuels; 8 ‘‘(C) activities are carried out that address 9 near-term challenges in modeling and simula- 10 tion to enable accelerated design and licensing; 11 ‘‘(D) related technologies, such as tech- 12 nologies to manage, reduce, or reuse nuclear 13 waste, are developed; 14 ‘‘(E) nuclear research infrastructure is 15 maintained or constructed, such as— 16 ‘‘(i) currently operational research re- 17 actors at the National Laboratories and in- 18 stitutions of higher education; 19 ‘‘(ii) hot cell research facilities; 20 ‘‘(iii) a versatile fast neutron source; 21 and 22 ‘‘(iv) a molten salt testing facility; 23 ‘‘(F) basic knowledge of nonlight water 24 coolant physics and chemistry is improved; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘(G) advanced sensors and control systems 1 are developed; and 2 ‘‘(H) advanced manufacturing and ad- 3 vanced construction techniques and materials 4 are investigated to reduce the cost of advanced 5 nuclear reactors.’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 7 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 8 Stat. 594) is amended— 9 (1) in the item relating to section 917, by strik- 10 ing ‘‘Efficiency’’; 11 (2) by amending the items relating to sections 12 957, 958, and 959 to read as follows: 13 ‘‘Sec. 957. High-performance computation and supportive research. ‘‘Sec. 958. Enabling nuclear energy innovation. ‘‘Sec. 959. Budget plan.’’; and 14 (3) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 15 tion 959 the following: 16 ‘‘Sec. 959A. Advanced nuclear reactor research and development goals.’’. SEC. 3. NUCLEAR ENERGY STRATEGIC PLAN. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title IX of the En- 18 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) (as 19 amended by section 2(a)) is further amended by adding 20 at the end the following: 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H3358 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3358 IH ‘‘SEC. 959B. NUCLEAR ENERGY STRATEGIC PLAN. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 2 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 3 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 4 sources of the Senate and the Committees on Energy and 5 Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology of the 6 House of Representatives a 10-year strategic plan for the 7 Office of Nuclear Energy of the Department, in accord- 8 ance with this section. 9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 10 ‘‘(1) COMPONENTS.—The strategic plan under 11 this section shall designate— 12 ‘‘(A) programs that support the planned 13 accomplishment of— 14 ‘‘(i) the goals established under sec- 15 tion 959A; and 16 ‘‘(ii) the demonstration programs 17 identified under subsection (c) of that sec- 18 tion; and 19 ‘‘(B) programs that— 20 ‘‘(i) do not support the planned ac- 21 complishment of demonstration programs, 22 or the goals, referred to in subparagraph 23 (A); but 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:23 Jun 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3358.IH H335 [Text truncated for display. 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