§16271 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must run civilian nuclear research, development, demonstration, and work to help commercial use, including the activities covered here. The programs must aim to provide research facilities for universities, National Laboratories, and private companies; keep nuclear R&D and infrastructure at National Laboratories and colleges; reduce the chance of nuclear proliferation; increase public safety margins for nuclear systems; cut environmental impacts from nuclear activities; move technology from National Laboratories to industry; and let companies partner with National Laboratories to test new reactor ideas that address the goals above. Definitions: "Advanced nuclear reactor" means a nuclear fission reactor (including prototype plants as defined in sections 50.2 and 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations) that shows significant improvements over reactors operating on December 27, 2020 (examples include added safety, less waste, better fuels and materials, greater reliability and resilience, higher efficiency, lower cooling-water use, modular sizes, and operational flexibility); it also includes fusion reactors and radioisotope power systems that use heat from radioactive decay. "Commission" means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "Fast neutron" means a neutron with kinetic energy above 100 kiloelectron volts. "National Laboratory" means the term in section 15801, except Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia are limited to their civilian activities. "Neutron flux" means neutron intensity as a flow rate over an area. "Neutron source" means a research machine that provides neutron irradiation for materials and nuclear physics research and for testing advanced materials, fuels, and related reactor parts.

Title 42, §16271

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary shall carry out programs of civilian nuclear research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities under this part.

(2)The programs carried out under paragraph (1) shall take into consideration the following objectives:

(A)Providing research infrastructure to promote scientific progress and enable users from academia, the National Laboratories, and the private sector to make scientific discoveries relevant for nuclear, chemical, and materials science engineering.

(B)Maintaining nuclear energy research and development programs at the National Laboratories and institutions of higher education, including infrastructure at the National Laboratories and institutions of higher education.

(C)Providing the technical means to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation.

(D)Increasing confidence margins for public safety of nuclear energy systems.

(E)Reducing the environmental impact of activities relating to nuclear energy.

(F)Supporting technology transfer from the National Laboratories to the private sector.

(G)Enabling the private sector to partner with the National Laboratories to demonstrate novel reactor concepts for the purpose of resolving technical uncertainty associated with the objectives described in subparagraphs (A) through (F).

(b)In this part:

(1)The term “advanced nuclear reactor” means—

(A)a nuclear fission reactor, including a prototype plant (as defined in section 50.2 and 52.1 of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)), with significant improvements compared to reactors operating on December 27, 2020, including improvements such as—

(i)additional inherent safety features;

(ii)lower waste yields;

(iii)improved fuel and material performance;

(iv)increased tolerance to loss of fuel cooling;

(v)enhanced reliability or improved resilience;

(vi)increased proliferation resistance;

(vii)increased thermal efficiency;

(viii)reduced consumption of cooling water and other environmental impacts;

(ix)the ability to integrate into electric applications and nonelectric applications;

(x)modular sizes to allow for deployment that corresponds with the demand for electricity or process heat; and

(xi)operational flexibility to respond to changes in demand for electricity or process heat and to complement integration with intermittent renewable energy or energy storage;

(B)a fusion reactor; and

(C)a radioisotope power system that utilizes heat from radioactive decay to generate energy.

(2)The term “Commission” means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(3)The term “fast neutron” means a neutron with kinetic energy above 100 kiloelectron volts.

(4)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term “National Laboratory” has the meaning given the term in section 15801 of this title.

(B)With respect to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Sandia National Laboratories, the term “National Laboratory” means only the civilian activities of the laboratory.

(5)The term “neutron flux” means the intensity of neutron radiation measured as a rate of flow of neutrons applied over an area.

(6)The term “neutron source” means a research machine that provides neutron irradiation services for—

(A)research on materials sciences and nuclear physics; and

(B)testing of advanced materials, nuclear fuels, and other related components for reactor systems.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (b)(1)(C). Pub. L. 117–58 added subpar. (C). 2020—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–260 amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) defined the term “advanced nuclear reactor”. 2018—Pub. L. 115–248 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to civilian nuclear energy research programs and authorizations of appropriations to carry out such programs.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Wage Rate RequirementsFor provisions relating to rates of wages to be paid to laborers and mechanics on projects for

Construction

, alteration, or repair work funded under div. D or an amendment by div. D of Pub. L. 117–58, including authority of Secretary of Labor, see section 18851 of this title.

§16271 Nuclear energy