[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3440 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3440
To direct the Department of Energy to support fusion energy innovation,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 4, 2015
Mr. Grayson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Department of Energy to support fusion energy innovation,
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 ``Fusion Innovation Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FUSION INNOVATION INITIATIVE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science of the
Department of Energy shall establish a Fusion Innovation Initiative.
Under the Initiative, the Director shall issue a competitive, merit-
reviewed funding opportunity announcement to solicit proposals for
engineering designs for innovative fusion energy systems, including
upgrades to existing facilities, which have the potential to
demonstrate net energy production not later than 7 years after the
start of construction.
(b) Application Requirements.--In order to be eligible to receive
an award under this section, an applicant shall submit an application
to the Director that includes--
(1) a detailed cost estimate and schedule for construction
of the design, including a summary of any design modifications
that would accelerate the achievement of net energy production;
and
(2) an assessment of the scalability of the design.
(c) Award and Design Submission.--
(1) Award.--The Director shall review each application
submitted under subsection (b) and shall provide awards to
applicants with design concepts that the Director considers to
have potential based on the criteria described in subsection
(a).
(2) Design submission.--As a condition of receiving such
award, the Director shall require any such applicant to submit
the design upon which the application is based to the Director
not later than 18 months after receipt of the award.
(d) Assessment.--The Director shall carry out an assessment of each
design submitted under subsection (c)(2) to determine which designs, if
any, merit support from the Department due to their potential to
demonstrate net energy production not later than 7 years after the
start of construction, and shall--
(1) submit the assessment to Congress not later than 30
months after the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) assign top priority to, and provide expedited financial
support (to the extent provided in advance in appropriations
Acts) for, relevant construction activities for any design that
the Director determines merits such support, based on the
project management practices of the Office of Science.
SEC. 3. RESOURCE AND INFORMATION SHARING.
(a) In General.--To the extent practicable, the Secretary of Energy
shall establish open, transparent processes to share unclassified
resources and information that will accelerate the advancement of
fusion energy technologies among researchers from the National
Laboratories, institutions of higher education, and the private sector.
Such resources and information shall include--
(1) advanced computing platforms and simulation codes;
(2) diagnostic equipment information; and
(3) pulsed power system information.
(b) Computing.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish processes to
make unclassified, proprietary simulation codes relevant to the
development of a fusion energy system, that are controlled by a
National Laboratory, available to researchers from other
National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, and
the private sector.
(2) Shared platforms.--The Secretary shall support shared
platforms for the codevelopment of simulation codes for fusion
energy systems among researchers from the National
Laboratories, institutions of higher education, and the private
sector.
(c) Personnel Exchanges.--The Secretary shall establish a process
for fusion researchers from the National Laboratories to serve limited-
term residencies at private sector companies working to advance fusion
technologies. Such residencies shall be entirely supported by the host
companies.
SEC. 4. FUSION DEMONSTRATION SITES.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with
the National Laboratories, relevant Federal agencies, and stakeholders,
shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate a report assessing the Department of Energy's
capabilities to authorize, host, and oversee privately funded fusion
prototypes with up to 20 megawatts thermal output and related
demonstration facilities at sites owned by the Department.
(b) Report Elements.--The report described in subsection (a) shall
address the following:
(1) The Department's safety review and oversight
capabilities.
(2) Potential sites capable of hosting research,
development, and demonstration of prototype reactors and
related facilities, for the purpose of reducing technical risk.
(3) The Department's and the National Laboratories'
existing physical and technical capabilities relevant to
research, development, and oversight.
(4) The efficacy of the Department's available contractual
mechanisms, including cooperative research and development
agreements, work-for-others agreements, and agreements for
commercializing technology.
(5) Potential cost structures related to physical security,
decommissioning, liability, and other long-term project costs.
(6) Other challenges or considerations identified by the
Secretary, including issues related to potential cases of
demonstration reactors with up to 2 gigawatts of thermal
output.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL LABORATORIES.
In this Act, the term ``National Laboratories'' has the meaning
given the term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C.
15801).
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