[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1311 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1311
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States should support the expansion of domestic nuclear energy and
advanced nuclear technology as a viable source of power in order to
promote United States nuclear energy leadership and global energy
independence.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2022
Mr. Donalds (for himself, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. Owens, Ms.
Mace, Mr. Bacon, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. Phillips, Mr.
Rose, Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio, and Mr. Moore of Alabama) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
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RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States should support the expansion of domestic nuclear energy and
advanced nuclear technology as a viable source of power in order to
promote United States nuclear energy leadership and global energy
independence.
Whereas nuclear energy has generated one-fifth of the electricity used in the
United States since 1990;
Whereas the Secretary of Energy has stated that, ``nuclear energy is clean
energy and it is vital to creating good-paying jobs, supporting our
energy transition, and saving our planet'';
Whereas the International Energy Agency determined that nuclear power forms the
cornerstone of zero-carbon electricity generation;
Whereas conventional nuclear energy plants are highly reliable and consistently
operate over 92 percent of the time;
Whereas the generation of electricity from nuclear energy is up to 2 times more
reliable than the generation of electricity from natural gas and coal,
and up to 3.5 times more reliable than the generation of electricity
from wind and solar;
Whereas nuclear reactors produce substantially more energy relative to their
land footprint than solar and wind projects, which require over 30 times
and 100 times, respectfully, the land area for the same generating
capacity;
Whereas, in 2019, 476,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions were not
released into the atmosphere due to the utilization of nuclear energy in
the United States, which is equivalent to removing 100,000,000 cars off
the road;
Whereas conversely, in 2014, Vermont's Yankee Nuclear Plant closed and the State
saw a 650,000-metric ton increase in carbon dioxide emissions within
just 2 months;
Whereas electricity demand throughout the United States is predicted to increase
by approximately 34 percent by 2050;
Whereas, as of July 8, 2020, there are 28 States in which at least 1 commercial
nuclear reactor operates;
Whereas many States around the United States have enacted nuclear energy-related
laws and are in the process of adopting policies and appropriating
funding for the expansion of nuclear energy in their State;
Whereas nuclear energy facilities can easily repurpose retired fossil fuel power
plants by using existing infrastructure and transitioning fossil fuel
power plant workers that already understand the basics of the plant to
easily operate the nuclear energy facility;
Whereas, in 2022, nuclear energy supports over 475,000 jobs in the United
States;
Whereas building a conventional nuclear reactor employs up to 7,000 workers at
peak construction;
Whereas nuclear energy worker salaries are, on average, 50 percent higher than
the salaries of employees that work in other electricity generation
facilities;
Whereas the United States nuclear energy industry spends roughly $11,000,000,000
annually on labor, which is approximately $100,000,000 per reactor per
year;
Whereas, for every 100 jobs at a nuclear power plant in the United States, 66
other jobs are created in the local community;
Whereas nearly 1 in 4 nuclear energy workers are veterans;
Whereas nuclear energy adds approximately $60,000,000,000 to the United States
gross domestic product each year;
Whereas, unlike most energy sources, nuclear power plants have up to 2 years of
fuel stored securely on-site, which makes nuclear power plants hardened
against fuel-related supply disruptions;
Whereas a uranium pellet the size of a pencil eraser contains the same amount of
energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal, or 149
gallons of oil;
Whereas global uranium supply is vastly available and the United States can
generate nuclear power at its current levels for more than a century
with just the natural uranium ore deposits that have already been
identified;
Whereas nuclear power plants offer a level of protection against natural and
adversarial threats that goes far beyond most other elements of the
electrical grid in the United States;
Whereas nuclear power plants' infrastructure and facilities are built to
withstand extreme weather, as proven during recent hurricanes and
freezing temperatures driven by polar vortex events;
Whereas the safe operation of nuclear energy in the United States has resulted
in no radiation-related deaths or long-term evacuation of surrounding
communities;
Whereas the utilization of conventional and advanced nuclear energy technologies
will significantly reduce energy costs, although the initial investment
burden of licensing and constructing any type of nuclear reactor will be
substantial;
Whereas the production of nuclear energy has become a much safer and more
efficient process with the development and commercialization of
innovative advanced nuclear reactors;
Whereas advanced nuclear reactors present uniquely innovative options for the
sustainable generation of clean energy in the United States and around
the world;
Whereas a typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in the United States
requires a little more than one square mile to operate, however an
advanced nuclear reactor requires about 3 times less land area compared
to a conventional nuclear power plant, depending on the reactor type and
the specific characteristics of the community;
Whereas the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates 31 research and test
reactors;
Whereas approximately 98 universities in the United States offer a nuclear
engineering program and several universities have expressed interest in
advanced nuclear reactors as a power source for their campuses;
Whereas more than 45 companies and research organizations across the United
States have advanced nuclear energy projects underway;
Whereas many advanced nuclear reactors, in comparison to conventional nuclear
reactors, can operate at much higher temperatures without water, have
built-in safety features (such as automatic shutoff mechanisms), can
operate autonomously without disruption for several years at a time, and
have a naturally enhanced resistance to nuclear proliferation;
Whereas low-emission heat and steam from advanced nuclear reactors can supply
reliable, clean energy for hard-to-decarbonize sectors, such as the
industrial sector and chemical production sector;
Whereas the total amount of spent nuclear fuel that the United States nuclear
energy industry produced over the past 60 years could fit within the
bounds of a football field at a depth of less than 10 yards;
Whereas spent nuclear fuel can--
(1) be safely stored in a deep geological repository;
(2) be repurposed and recycled using innovative technology; and
(3) potentially be safely stored underground using techniques such as
deep borehole drilling;
Whereas certain advanced nuclear reactors have the capability to use spent
nuclear fuel from another nuclear reactor as a fuel source;
Whereas recycling spent nuclear fuel could significantly reduce the burden of
storing spent nuclear fuel, which would make the nuclear fuel cycle more
sustainable and further reduce the already-low carbon footprint of
nuclear energy;
Whereas 96 percent of spent nuclear fuel content is reusable energy, and
recycling spent nuclear fuel can cut the use of natural uranium
resources by 25 percent, reduce the volume of high-level waste slated
for disposal by 75 percent, and reduce the waste's toxicity by
approximately 90 percent;
Whereas, by 2050, energy produced by advanced nuclear reactors may account for a
significant amount of the clean energy generated in the United States,
with certain estimates predicting that up to 50 percent of total United
States electricity generation could come from conventional and advanced
nuclear energy sources;
Whereas the offsite component fabrication and modular manufacturing process for
advanced nuclear reactors will likely lead to cheaper and faster
installation, reduced regulatory burdens, and ultimately a streamlined
commercial deployment of advanced nuclear reactors;
Whereas advanced nuclear reactors offer seamless integration to complement other
renewables within microgrids, balancing out variations in generation
over time to reliably meet United States electricity demand;
Whereas, in the aftermath of a natural disaster when power outages persist, an
easily transportable advanced nuclear reactor could provide electricity
or heat for essential services, such as hospitals and water purification
facilities, instead of diesel generators, thereby producing a cleaner
and more efficient source of power that can last up to 20 years without
refueling;
Whereas nuclear medicine, including the use of medical radioactive isotopes, can
be used to diagnose and treat different diseases with pinpoint
precision, which will ultimately save American lives;
Whereas the Armed Forces have intentions to utilize advanced nuclear reactors at
United States military bases, both domestically and internationally,
because of advanced nuclear reactor's ability to generate clean
electricity consistently and reliably in locations that experience
severe weather patterns;
Whereas the Armed Forces are currently using diesel for generators in these
remote locations to provide electricity, such as in Alaska, which
require refueling approximately every 72 hours;
Whereas, since 1954, the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has maintained and
operated more than 100 naval nuclear reactors, serviced and supplied by
thousands of American workers, to power United States aircraft carriers,
submarines, and other vessels;
Whereas advanced nuclear thermal and nuclear electric propulsion provides an
alternative clean energy source to power commercial ships to cut
emissions and remove the costly refueling infrastructure needs for
liquid-based energy carriers;
Whereas the advantages of using advanced nuclear thermal and nuclear electric
propulsion include long refueling intervals, faster transit speeds,
production of heat or cooling for cargo, faster turn-around times due to
elimination of refueling, reduced draft allowing increased cargo
capacity, eliminating the need to transport huge quantities of engine
fuel, and reducing the probability of environmental damage from fuel
leakages;
Whereas nuclear thermal propulsion and nuclear electric propulsion vehicles are
to be made at one-third to one-half the size of comparable chemical
propulsion vehicles, which would increase travel speeds and cut costs of
space missions;
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and private companies
are creating technologies that use advanced nuclear radioisotopes to
channel heat into electricity, even in temperatures below -280 \o\F on
the lunar surface, for both manned and unmanned missions to Earth's
satellites, the Earth's Moon, Mars, and deep space;
Whereas nuclear energy may be used to desalinate highly salty waters and
industrial wastewater to ultimately produce multiuse potable water;
Whereas nuclear energy has the potential to cleanly power large-scale hydrogen
production facilities and utilize direct heat from the nuclear reactor
to assist with the hydrogen production process;
Whereas advanced nuclear reactors offer the possibility of a clean source of
energy to power energy intrusive mining operations that are typically
powered by diesel generators;
Whereas advanced nuclear reactors can produce clean, consistent, and reliable
energy to data centers which typically require large amounts of energy;
and
Whereas the future of cryptocurrency mining, which requires extensive energy
output, will greatly benefit from utilizing a noncarbon-emitting,
stable, and cost-competitive nuclear power source: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that, in order to meet the growing energy demands of the United States
in a domestically favorable fashion and to promote American nuclear
energy leadership while retaining the United States economic viability
in the worldwide nuclear energy marketplace, it is necessary to expand
the use of nuclear energy by--
(1) embracing efforts to maintain the existing nuclear
fleet and promoting efforts that seek to utilize emerging
innovative nuclear energy technologies, such as advanced
nuclear reactors, to promote increased energy output, improve
public safety, more effectively reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, and alleviate the continuous challenge relating to
storing spent nuclear fuel;
(2) recognizing nuclear energy as one of the cleanest power
sources in regard to greenhouse gas emissions, while
simultaneously understanding nuclear energy's capability of
being coupled with other clean energy sources, and stressing
the importance of nuclear energy being recognized on a level
regulatory playing field that is similar to other clean energy
generating sources;
(3) supporting initiatives by the Department of Defense for
the deployment of nuclear reactors to enhance energy resiliency
and electricity assurance for critical missions, systems, and
assets in contested logistical environments where fuel supplies
are targeted or denied;
(4) addressing critical domestic gaps in the procurement of
nuclear reactor construction material, resolving current
barriers and obstacles that relate to a domestic supply of
nuclear fuel, and other nuclear supply chain challenges;
(5) encouraging sustainable domestic mining of uranium, in
addition to increasing uranium enrichment capabilities in the
United States to efficiently secure America's energy
independence and power United States nuclear reactors without
the need to rely on other countries;
(6) actively increasing public awareness surrounding the
safety of nuclear energy and continuously combating false
information relating to nuclear power, including nuclear
energy's negative connotation in the United States which
originates from the only 3 nuclear accidents in the history of
the world, including the only event that took place in the
United States in March of 1979 at Three Mile Island Nuclear
Generating Station Facility, in which no deaths or medical
symptoms were directly tied to the nuclear incident;
(7) streamlining the regulatory process, providing the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission the necessary resources to
effectuate positive change, and reducing the regulatory
barriers that currently derive from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's cautious and traditionalistic approach to the
licensing and constructing of new nuclear reactors, which such
regulatory approach is based on outdated technology standards
dating back over 50 years when the agency was first established
and solely focused on safely regulating conventional nuclear
reactors, to ultimately bolster innovation and encourage the
use of emerging technologies, such as advanced nuclear
reactors, to secure America's energy independence and allow for
the greater exercise of free enterprise, including
participation by America's small businesses that seek to get
involved in the nuclear industry, without reducing safety
precautions; and
(8) promoting the use of new advanced nuclear technologies
within energy, water, medicine, manufacturing, space, digital
assets, and other public policy areas.
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