§16275 Department of Energy Civilian Nuclear Infrastructure and Facilities

Summary

The Secretary must run and keep up the buildings, equipment, and labs needed for nuclear energy research, testing, demonstrations, and commercial work. This includes things like handling radioactive facilities, making isotopes, and general facilities management. The Secretary must make an inventory of nuclear facilities, equipment, and expertise at all National Laboratories, make a priority list of needed plant and equipment improvements, avoid funding duplicate capabilities, and create a timeline and budget to finish deferred maintenance so the programs are among the best in the world. The Secretary must provide a reactor-based fast neutron user facility by December 31, 2017, and work with industry, universities, the National Laboratories, and other agencies when planning it. After deciding the mission need, the Secretary must send Congress a detailed plan. The facility must at least offer fast-neutron irradiation and room for upgrades. The plan must consider high-temperature testing, a neutron flux higher than current facilities, flexible and large irradiation space for many users, lower-energy neutron options, multiple test loops with different coolants, extra exam abilities before and after irradiation, and lifecycle operating costs. Construction and startup should be completed, to the maximum extent practicable, by December 31, 2026. The annual budget must explain any delays. The Department should use Office of Science best practices. Authorized funding to finish the facility is $295,000,000 for FY2021; $348,000,000 for FY2022; $525,000,000 for FY2023; $534,000,000 for FY2024; and $584,000,000 for FY2025. The Secretary may set up the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) to give industry access to R&D, testing, modeling, data, and technical, regulatory, and financial help to speed commercial development of new nuclear technologies. Industry partners must be chosen competitively and on merit, taking into account the shared information and any Department facilities used for public–private partnerships.