[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6796 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6796
To establish and support advanced nuclear research and development
programs and infrastructure at the Department of Energy, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 8, 2020
Mr. Weber of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish and support advanced nuclear research and development
programs and infrastructure at the Department of Energy, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Energy for the Future Act''.
SEC. 2. NUCLEAR ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16272) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Advanced Reactor Technologies Research and Development
Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program
under which the Secretary shall conduct research relating to
the development of advanced nuclear energy technologies that
may offer improved safety, functionality, and affordability.
``(2) Requirements.--The program under this subsection
shall--
``(A) support efforts to reduce long-term technical
barriers for advanced nuclear energy systems; and
``(B) be carried out in consultation with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure identification
of any relevant concerns.
``(3) Public-private partnerships.--
``(A) In general.--In carrying out the program
under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the
maximum extent practicable and consistent with national
security, make available nuclear energy research
infrastructure to industry partners in order to achieve
faster and cost-effective development of advanced
nuclear energy technologies toward commercial
readiness. The Secretary shall make available--
``(i) experimental capabilities and testing
facilities;
``(ii) computational capabilities,
modeling, and simulation tools;
``(iii) access to existing datasets and
data validation tools; and
``(iv) land use and site information for
demonstration facilities.
``(B) Selection.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall
select industry partners for awards on a
competitive merit-reviewed basis.
``(ii) Considerations.--In selecting
industry partners under clause (i), the
Secretary shall consider--
``(I) the information disclosed by
the Department as described in
subparagraph (A); and
``(II) any existing facilities the
Department will provide for public-
private partnership activities.
``(C) Term.--An award made to an industry partner
under this subsection shall be for a period of not more
than 5 years, subject to the availability of
appropriations, after which the award may be renewed,
subject to a rigorous merit review.
``(4) Definition of advanced nuclear energy.--In this
subsection, the term `advanced nuclear energy' means energy
provided by--
``(A) a nuclear fission reactor, including a
prototype plant (as defined in sections 50.2 and 52.1
of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor
regulations)), with significant improvements compared
to the most recent generation of fission reactors,
including improvements such as--
``(i) additional inherent safety features;
``(ii) lower waste yields;
``(iii) improved fuel performance;
``(iv) increased tolerance to loss of fuel
cooling;
``(v) enhanced reliability;
``(vi) increased proliferation resistance;
``(vii) increased thermal efficiency;
``(viii) reduced consumption of cooling
water;
``(ix) the ability to integrate into
electric applications and nonelectric
applications;
``(x) modular sizes to allow for deployment
that corresponds with the demand for
electricity; or
``(xi) operational flexibility to respond
to changes in demand for electricity and to
complement integration with intermittent
renewable energy; or
``(B) a fusion reactor.''.
SEC. 3. VERSATILE NEUTRON SOURCE.
Section 955(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C.
16275(c)) is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Versatile Neutron Source.--
``(1) In general.--In order to advance the research and
development of domestic advanced, affordable, secure, and clean
nuclear energy, the Secretary shall construct a versatile
reactor-based fast neutron source, which shall operate as a
national user facility. The Secretary shall consult with the
private sector, universities, National Laboratories, and
relevant Federal agencies to ensure that such facility is
capable of meeting Federal research needs for neutron
irradiation services.
``(2) Facility capabilities.--
``(A) Capabilities.--The Secretary shall ensure
that the facility described in paragraph (1) will
provide, at a minimum, the following capabilities:
``(i) Fast neutron spectrum irradiation
capability.
``(ii) Capacity for upgrades to accommodate
new or expanded research needs.
``(B) Considerations.--In carrying out subparagraph
(A), the Secretary shall consider the following:
``(i) Capabilities that support
experimental high-temperature testing.
``(ii) Providing a source of fast neutrons,
at a neutron flux higher than that at which
existing research facilities operate,
sufficient to enable research for an optimal
base of prospective users.
``(iii) Maximizing irradiation flexibility
and irradiation volume to accommodate as many
concurrent users as possible.
``(iv) Capabilities for irradiation with
neutrons of a lower energy spectrum.
``(v) Multiple loops for fuels and
materials testing of different coolants.
``(vi) Additional pre-irradiation and post-
irradiation examination capabilities.
``(vii) Lifetime operating costs and
lifecycle costs.
``(3) Start of operations.--The Secretary shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, ensure that the start of full
operations of the facility described in paragraph (1) occurs
before December 31, 2026.
``(4) Reporting.--The Secretary shall include in the annual
budget request of the Department an explanation for any delay
in the process of the Department in completing the facility
described in paragraph (1) by the deadline described in
paragraph (3).
``(5) Coordination.--The Secretary shall leverage the best
practices for management, construction, and operation of
national user facilities from the Office of Science.
``(6) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the Office
of Nuclear Energy to carry out to completion the construction
of the facility under this subsection--
``(A) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2021;
``(B) $550,000,000 for fiscal year 2022;
``(C) $638,000,000 for fiscal year 2023;
``(D) $765,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and
``(E) $763,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.''.
SEC. 4. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTATION COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.
Section 957 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16277) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Duplication.--The Secretary shall ensure the coordination of,
and avoid unnecessary duplication of, the activities of the program
under subsection (a) with the activities of--
``(1) other research entities of the Department, including
the National Laboratories, the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy, and the Advanced Scientific Computing Research
program; and
``(2) industry.''.
<all>
Nuclear Energy for the Future Act
#6796 | HR Congress #116
Policy Area: Energy
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. (5/8/2020)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text