[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4066 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4066
To enable high-performance computation and supportive research and
nuclear energy innovation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 18, 2015
Mr. Grayson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enable high-performance computation and supportive research and
nuclear energy innovation.
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 Innovation Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Advanced fission reactor.--The term ``advanced fission
reactor'' means a nuclear fission reactor with significant
improvements over the most recent generation of nuclear
reactors, which may include inherent safety features, lower
waste yields, greater fuel utilization, superior reliability,
resistance to proliferation, and increased thermal efficiency.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Energy.
(3) National laboratories.--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).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 3. HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTATION AND SUPPORTIVE RESEARCH.
(a) Modeling and Simulation.--The Secretary shall carry out a
program to enhance the Nation's capabilities to develop new reactor
technologies through high-performance computation modeling and
simulation techniques. This program shall coordinate with relevant
Federal agencies through the National Strategic Computing Initiative
created under Executive Order 13702 (July 29, 2015) while taking into
account the following objectives:
(1) Utilizing expertise from the private sector,
universities, and National Laboratories to develop
computational software and capabilities that prospective users
may access to accelerate research and development of advanced
fission reactor systems, nuclear fusion systems, and reactor
systems for space exploration.
(2) Developing computational tools to simulate and predict
nuclear phenomena that may be validated through physical
experimentation.
(3) Increasing the utility of the Department's research
infrastructure by coordinating with the Advanced Scientific
Computing Research program within the Office of Science.
(4) Leveraging experience from the Energy Innovation Hub
for Modeling and Simulation.
(5) Ensuring that new experimental and computational tools
are accessible to relevant research communities.
(b) Supportive Research Activities.--The Secretary shall consider
support for additional research activities to maximize the utility of
its research facilities, including physical processes to simulate
degradation of materials and behavior of fuel forms and for validation
of computational tools.
SEC. 4. ENABLING NUCLEAR ENERGY INNOVATION.
(a) National Reactor Innovation Center.--The Secretary shall carry
out a program to enable the testing and demonstration of reactor
concepts to be proposed and funded by the private sector. The Secretary
shall leverage the technical expertise of relevant Federal agencies and
National Laboratories in order to minimize the time required to enable
construction and operation of privately funded experimental reactors at
National Laboratories or other Department-owned sites while ensuring
reasonable safety for persons working within these sites. Such reactors
shall operate to meet the following objectives:
(1) Enabling physical validation of novel reactor concepts.
(2) Resolving technical uncertainty and increasing
practical knowledge relevant to safety, resilience, security,
and functionality of first-of-a-kind reactor concepts.
(3) General research and development to improve nascent
technologies.
(b) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the
National Laboratories, relevant Federal agencies, and other
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's
capabilities to authorize, host, and oversee privately funded fusion
and advanced fission experimental reactors as described under
subsection (a). The report shall address the following:
(1) The Department's safety review and oversight
capabilities, including options to leverage expertise from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and National Laboratories.
(2) Potential sites capable of hosting activities described
under subsection (a).
(3) The efficacy of the Department's available contractual
mechanisms to partner with the private sector and Federal
agencies, including cooperative research and development
agreements, strategic partnership projects, and agreements for
commercializing technology.
(4) Potential cost structures related to physical security,
decommissioning, liability, and other long term project costs.
(5) Other challenges or considerations identified by the
Secretary.
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