[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2054 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2054
To provide for the reenrichment of certain depleted uranium owned by
the Department of Energy, and for the sale or barter of the resulting
reenriched uranium, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 26, 2011
Mr. Whitfield introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the reenrichment of certain depleted uranium owned by
the Department of Energy, and for the sale or barter of the resulting
reenriched uranium, 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 ``Energy and Revenue Enrichment Act of
2011''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Energy.
(2) Enrichment plant.--The term ``enrichment plant'' means
a uranium enrichment plant owned by the Department of Energy
with respect to which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
made a determination of compliance under section 1701(b)(2) of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2297f(b)(2)).
(3) Qualified operator.--The term ``qualified operator''
means a company that has experience in operating an enrichment
plant under Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorization and has
the ability and workforce to enrich the depleted uranium that
is owned by the Department of Energy.
(4) Reenrichment.--The term ``reenrichment'' means
increasing the weight percent of U-235 in uranium in order to
make the uranium usable.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 3. REENRICHMENT CONTRACT.
(a) In General.--
(1) Requirement.--The Secretary shall enter into a contract
with a qualified operator for a 24-month pilot program for the
reenrichment at an enrichment plant of the depleted uranium
described in section 2(3) that the Secretary finds economically
viable. The Secretary shall seek to maximize the financial
return to the Federal Government in negotiating the terms of
such contract.
(2) Amount of enrichment.--The Secretary shall, during each
year of the pilot program under this subsection, conduct
uranium reenrichment under such program in an amount (measured
in separative work units) equal to approximately 25 percent of
the aggregate uranium enrichment conducted in the United States
during calendar year 2010.
(3) Economic viability.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
uranium shall be considered economically viable if the cost to
the United States of the reenrichment thereof, including the
costs of the contract entered into under paragraph (1), are
less than the revenue anticipated from the sale of the
reenriched uranium.
(b) Commencement of Reenrichment Activities.--Reenrichment
activities under the contract entered into under subsection (a) shall
commence as soon as possible, but no later than June 1, 2012.
(c) Sale of Reenriched Uranium.--The Secretary may from time to
time sell the reenriched uranium generated pursuant to the contract
entered into under subsection (a).
(d) Allocation and Use of Proceeds.--Any funds received by the
Secretary from the sale of reenriched uranium generated pursuant to the
contract entered into under subsection (a) shall be allocated as
follows:
(1) First, such funds shall be available to the Secretary,
without further appropriation and without fiscal year
limitation, to carry out this section, including amounts
required to be paid under the contract entered into under
subsection (a).
(2) Any amounts not required for the purposes described in
paragraph (1) shall be transferred to the Uranium Enrichment
Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund established in section
1801 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2297g), to be
available for use, without further appropriation and without
fiscal year limitation.
SEC. 4. DEPLETED URANIUM.
(a) Title and Responsibility for Disposition.--The Secretary shall
assume title to, and responsibility for the disposition of, all
depleted uranium generated pursuant to the contract entered into under
section 3(a).
(b) Funding for Reenrichment.--To provide funding for payments
under the contract entered into under section 3(a), the Secretary may--
(1) assume title to, and responsibility for the disposition
of, depleted uranium in addition to the depleted uranium
specified in subsection (a); and
(2) transfer to the qualified operator title to uranium
generated as a result of the reenrichment pursuant to the
contract entered into under section 3(a).
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL URANIUM SALES.
(a) Initial Period.--Notwithstanding section 3112(d) of the USEC
Privatization Act (42 U.S.C. 2297h-10(d)), during the 24-month pilot
program and the subsequent 24 months after that program is complete,
the Secretary may not during any calendar year sell an amount of
uranium that exceeds 15 percent of the United States' domestic uranium
supply for that year.
(b) Subsequent Period.--After the expiration of the 48-month period
described in subsection (a), the Secretary may not during any calendar
year sell an amount of uranium that exceeds 10 percent of the United
States' domestic uranium supply for that year, except to the extent
that the Secretary determines that such sales will have no significant
effect on uranium markets.
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