Strengthening American Nuclear Competitiveness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7405 To assess and improve the competitiveness of American civilian nuclear com- merce, to expedite Department of Energy review of certain nuclear tech- nology exports, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 29, 2020 Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on En- ergy 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 concerned A BILL To assess and improve the competitiveness of American civil- ian nuclear commerce, to expedite Department of Energy review of certain nuclear technology exports, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Amer- 4 ican Nuclear Competitiveness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7405 IH SEC. 2. COMPETITIVENESS OF NUCLEAR COMMERCE. 1 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 2 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall 3 develop and submit to Congress a report on United States 4 civil nuclear commerce. 5 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report re- 6 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary of Energy shall 7 consult with— 8 (1) the Secretary of State; 9 (2) the Secretary of Commerce; 10 (3) the Administrator of the Environmental 11 Protection Agency; and 12 (4) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 13 (c) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub- 14 section (a) shall include— 15 (1) an assessment of— 16 (A) current legal, regulatory, policy, and 17 commercial practices of the United States with 18 respect to the civilian nuclear industry of the 19 United States; and 20 (B) the impacts of such practices on such 21 civilian nuclear industry in the United States 22 and in foreign commerce; 23 (2) a comparison of the practices of the United 24 States described in paragraph (1) to practices of for- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7405 IH eign countries with respect to the civilian nuclear in- 1 dustry of such countries; 2 (3) recommendations to improve the competi- 3 tiveness of United States civil nuclear commerce; 4 and 5 (4) options on how to apply section 170 of the 6 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2210) (com- 7 monly known as the ‘‘Price-Anderson Act’’) with re- 8 spect to advanced nuclear technologies. 9 SEC. 3. EXPEDITING NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS. 10 (a) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—Section 57 of the 11 Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2077(d)) is amended by 12 adding at the end the following new subsection: 13 ‘‘(f) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.— 14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out sub- 15 section b.(2), the Secretary of Energy shall establish 16 procedures for expedited consideration of requests 17 for authorizations regarding the transfer of a tech- 18 nology that involves a low-proliferation-risk reactor 19 activity described in paragraph (2) to a foreign 20 country described in paragraph (3). 21 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A low-proliferation-risk reac- 22 tor activity described in this paragraph is an activity 23 that meets each of following criteria: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7405 IH ‘‘(A) The activity is listed in section 1 810.2(b) of title 10, Code of Federal Regula- 2 tions, as in effect on March 25, 2015. 3 ‘‘(B) The activity is not an activity requir- 4 ing a specific authorization pursuant to section 5 810.7(c) of such title, as in effect on such date. 6 ‘‘(C) The Secretary determines that the 7 transfer (or retransfer) of a technology that in- 8 volves the activity will not result in a significant 9 increase of the risk of proliferation beyond such 10 risk that exists at the time that the authoriza- 11 tion is requested. 12 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN COUNTRIES.—A foreign country 13 described in this paragraph is a foreign country— 14 ‘‘(A) that is not a nuclear-weapon state, as 15 defined by Article IX(3) of the Treaty on the 16 Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed 17 at Washington, London, and Moscow on July 1, 18 1968, other than the United Kingdom or 19 France; and 20 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the Secretary 21 determines under subsection b.(2) that a trans- 22 fer to the country of a technology that involves 23 a low-proliferation-risk reactor activity de- 24 scribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection will 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7405 IH not be inimical to the interest of the United 1 States. 2 ‘‘(4) CONCURRENCE AND CONSULTATION.—The 3 Secretary of Energy shall establish the procedures 4 under paragraph (1) with the concurrence of the De- 5 partment of State and after consultation with the 6 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of 7 Commerce, and the Department of Defense. 8 ‘‘(5) TIMING AND AVAILABILITY.—The proce- 9 dures established under paragraph (1) shall— 10 ‘‘(A) ensure that each request is approved 11 or denied by not later than 45 days after the 12 later of— 13 ‘‘(i) the date on which the foreign 14 country transmits any required assurances 15 to the Department of State; or 16 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the inter- 17 agency review under subsection b. is com- 18 pleted; and 19 ‘‘(B) be publicly available.’’. 20 (b) ASSURANCES.—Section 57 b.(2) of such Act (42 21 U.S.C. 2077(b)(2)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘mecha- 22 nisms.’’ the following new sentence: ‘‘To the extent prac- 23 ticable, the Secretary of Energy shall continue to process 24 such requests during such interagency review in a manner 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7405 IH that enables the Secretary to make such determination as 1 soon as practicable after the receipt of assurances by a 2 foreign country to the Department of State, if any such 3 assurances are required.’’. 4 SEC. 4. COMMERCIAL LICENSE RESTRICTIONS ASSESS- 5 MENT. 6 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 7 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to Con- 8 gress a report containing the results of a study on the 9 feasibility and implications of modifying or repealing re- 10 strictions under sections 103 d. and 104 d. of the Atomic 11 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2133(d); 2134(d)) on 12 issuing licenses for certain nuclear facilities to an alien 13 or an entity owned, controlled, or dominated by an alien, 14 a foreign corporation, or a foreign government. 15 SEC. 5. RISK POOLING PROGRAM ASSESSMENT. 16 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 17 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 18 carry out a review of, and submit to the Committee on 19 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 20 and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of 21 the Senate a report on, the Secretary of Energy’s actions 22 with respect to the program described in section 934(e) 23 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 24 U.S.C. 17373(e)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7405 IH (b) CONTENTS.—The report described in subsection 1 (a) shall include— 2 (1) an assessment of the Secretary of Energy’s 3 actions to determine the risk-informed assessment 4 formula under section 934(e)(2)(C) of the Energy 5 Independence and Security Act of 2007; 6 (2) a review of the Secretary of Energy’s meth- 7 odology to collect information to determine and im- 8 plement the formula; and 9 (3) an evaluation of the program described in 10 section 934(e) of the Energy Independence and Se- 11 curity Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17373(e)), including 12 the Secretary of Energy’s actions with respect to 13 such program. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Jul 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7405.IH H7405 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS