Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Opportunity to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022” or the “NO RUSSIA Act of 2022”.
National Opportunity to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to operate a uranium reserve consisting of uranium produced and converted in the United States and a program to ensure the availability of uranium produced, converted, and enriched in the United States, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Department— The term Department means the Department of Energy.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy.
Uranium Reserve— The term Uranium Reserve means the national strategic uranium reserve operated pursuant to the program described in section 3(a).
Sec. 3 National Strategic Uranium Reserve
Program— On enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall immediately begin executing, with the amounts reallocated under subsection (f)(1), a program to operate a national strategic uranium reserve to ensure the availability of uranium produced and converted in the United States in accordance with this section.
Purposes— The purposes of the Uranium Reserve are—
to ensure the availability of domestically produced and converted uranium in the event of a supply disruption;
to address domestic nuclear fuel supply chain gaps and deficiencies in uranium production and conversion; and
to support strategic nuclear fuel supply chain capabilities in the United States.
Activities— In operating the Uranium Reserve, the Secretary shall—
operate the Uranium Reserve in a manner consistent with the recommendations in the document entitled “Restoring America's Competitive Nuclear Energy Advantage: A Strategy to Assure U.S. National Security”, released by the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group in 2020;
acquire uranium produced and converted in the United States that is sufficient to sustain the continued operation of nuclear reactors in the United States in the event of a supply disruption;
make uranium available as needed, in a manner consistent with the cost recovery requirements described in subsection (d); and
replenish, in a manner consistent with the requirements of this section, uranium made available by the Department.
Cost recovery—
In general— In carrying out activities under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that any uranium acquired, provided, or made available through the Uranium Reserve is subject to cost recovery based on the fair market value of the subject uranium.
Availability of certain funds— Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, revenues received from the sale or transfer of uranium and other activities related to making uranium available pursuant to this section—
shall be available to the Department for carrying out the purposes of this section, to reduce the need for further appropriations for those purposes; and
shall remain available until expended.
Exclusion— The Secretary shall exclude from the Uranium Reserve uranium from an entity that—
is owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation or the Government of the People’s Republic of China; or
is organized under the laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China.
Funding—
Reallocation—
In general— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amounts described in subparagraph (B) shall be reallocated to the Office of Nuclear Energy of the Department for the purpose of executing the program described in subsection (a) by—
continuing the activities initiated by the Department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, using amounts made available for the Uranium Reserve Program pursuant to the proviso referred to in that subparagraph;
carrying out other activities consistent with the purposes for which the amounts described in clause (i) were originally made available; and
carrying out activities in accordance with this section.
Amounts described— The amounts referred to in subparagraph (A) are the amounts that remain available as of the date of enactment of this Act from the $75,000,000 made available for the Uranium Reserve Program pursuant to the first proviso under the heading “weapons activities” under the heading “National Nuclear Security Administration” under the heading “atomic energy defense activities” in title III of division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 1369).
Clarification— Subparagraph (A) does not affect any amounts made available to the Department, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, that are not described in the proviso referred to in subparagraph (B) as available for the Uranium Reserve Program.
Authorization of Appropriations— In addition to amounts otherwise made available, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032.
Sec. 4 Domestic uranium availability
Establishment— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program (referred to in this section as the “program”) to ensure the availability of uranium produced, converted, and enriched in the United States.
Purposes— The purposes of the program shall be—
to eliminate reliance on Russian uranium;
to address domestic nuclear fuel supply chain gaps and deficiencies; and
to ensure the availability of domestically produced, converted, and enriched uranium to support the continued operation of nuclear reactors in the United States.
Considerations— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall consider, and, as appropriate, execute options—
to establish, through a competitive process, new and, as appropriate, diverse domestic uranium mining, conversion, and enrichment capacity that is needed to replace uranium imported from Russia;
to activate and expand the American Assured Fuel Supply to meet domestic and international nuclear fuel supply needs;
to restock the American Assured Fuel Supply, including by utilizing, or merging with, the Uranium Reserve;
that do not disrupt or replace market mechanisms; and
that ensure the use of domestic uranium utilized as a result of the program does not negatively impact the economic operation of nuclear reactors in the United States.
Exclusion— The Secretary shall exclude from the program uranium from an entity that—
is owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian Federation or the Government of the People’s Republic of China; or
is organized under the laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China.
Authorization of appropriations— In addition to amounts otherwise made available, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032.