International nuclear energy

This section may be cited as the “International Nuclear Energy Act of 2025”. In this section: The term “advanced nuclear reactor” has the meaning given the term in section 16271(b) of this title, except that, for purposes of this section, the reference to “reactors operating on December 27, 2020” in paragraph (1)(A) of that section shall be deemed to read “reactors operating in the United States on December 27, 2020”. The term “ally or partner nation” means— The term “appropriate committees of Congress” means— The term “associated entity” means an entity that— is owned, controlled, or operated by— The term “associated individual” means a foreign national who is a national of a country described in paragraph (2). The term “civil nuclear” means activities, other than atomic energy defense activities, relating to— The term “embarking civil nuclear nation” means a country that— is in the process of developing or expanding a civil nuclear energy program, including safeguards and a legal and regulatory framework, for— The term “embarking civil nuclear nation” does not include— any other country— the government of which the Secretary of State has determined has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism for purposes of— The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Energy. The term “spent nuclear fuel” has the meaning given the term in section 10101 of this title. The term “United States nuclear energy company” means a company that— There is established a working group, to be known as the “Nuclear Exports Working Group” (referred to in this subsection as the “working group”). The working group shall be composed of— The working group shall report to the President or 1 or more Federal officials designated by the President, if applicable. The working group shall coordinate, not less frequently than quarterly, with the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce, the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy, and other advisory or stakeholder groups, as necessary, to maintain an accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the standing of civil nuclear exports from the United States, including with respect to meeting the targets established as part of the 10-year civil nuclear trade strategy described in paragraph (5)(A). Not later than 1 year after December 18, 2025, the working group shall establish a 10-year civil nuclear trade strategy, including biennial targets for the export of civil nuclear technologies, including light water and non-light water reactors and associated equipment and technologies, civil nuclear materials, and nuclear fuel that align with meeting international energy demand while seeking to avoid or reduce emissions and prevent the dissemination of nuclear technology, materials, and weapons to adversarial nations and terrorist groups. In establishing the strategy under subparagraph (A), the working group shall collaborate with— The President shall launch, in accordance with applicable nuclear technology export laws (including regulations), an international initiative to modernize the civil nuclear outreach to embarking civil nuclear nations. In carrying out the initiative described in paragraph (1), the President, acting through an appropriate Federal official, and in coordination with the officials described in subparagraph (B), may, if the President determines to be appropriate, seek to establish cooperative financing relationships for the export of civil nuclear technology, components, materials, and infrastructure to embarking civil nuclear nations. The officials referred to in subparagraph (A) are— appropriate officials representing foreign countries and governments, including— In carrying out the initiative described in paragraph (1), the President shall— assist nongovernmental organizations, the Department of Energy, and other relevant Federal departments and agencies in the provision of education and training to foreign governments in nuclear safety, security, and safeguards— The President shall designate an appropriate White House official to coordinate with the officials described in subsection (d)(2)(B) to develop, as the President determines to be appropriate, financing relationships with ally or partner nations to assist in the adoption of civil nuclear technologies exported from the United States or ally or partner nations to embarking civil nuclear nations. In this paragraph, the term “United States competitiveness clause” means any United States competitiveness provision in any agreement entered into by the Department of Energy, including— In carrying out paragraph (1), the relevant officials described in that paragraph shall consider the impact of United States competitiveness clauses on any financing relationships entered into or proposed to be entered into under that paragraph. The Secretary shall facilitate waivers of United States competitiveness clauses as necessary to facilitate financing relationships with ally or partner nations under paragraph (1). Not later than 2 years after December 18, 2025, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce, shall conduct bilateral and multilateral meetings with not fewer than 5 ally or partner nations, with the aim of enhancing nuclear energy cooperation among those ally or partner nations and the United States, for the purpose of developing collaborative relationships with respect to research, development, licensing, and deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies for civil nuclear energy. The meetings described in paragraph (1) shall include— a focus on developing a memorandum of understanding or any other appropriate agreement between the United States and ally or partner nations with respect to— In conducting the meetings described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary, the Secretary of Commerce, and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies and only after initial consultation with the appropriate committees of Congress, shall seek to develop financing arrangements to share the costs of the demonstration and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors and the development of cooperative research facilities with the ally or partner nations participating in those meetings. Not later than 120 days after December 18, 2025, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary and 1 or more other Federal officials designated by the President, if applicable, shall launch an international initiative (referred to in this subsection as the “initiative”) to provide financial assistance to, and facilitate the building of technical capacities by, in accordance with this subsection, embarking civil nuclear nations for activities relating to the development of civil nuclear energy programs. In carrying out the initiative, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary and 1 or more other Federal officials designated by the President, if applicable, is authorized to award grants of financial assistance in amounts not greater than $5,500,000 to embarking civil nuclear nations in accordance with this paragraph— The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary and 1 or more other Federal officials designated by the President, if applicable, may award— In carrying out the initiative, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary and 1 or more other Federal officials designated by the President, if applicable, is authorized to provide financial assistance to an embarking civil nuclear nation for the purpose of contracting with a United States nuclear energy company to hire 1 or more senior advisors to assist the embarking civil nuclear nation in establishing a civil nuclear program. A senior advisor described in subparagraph (A) shall have relevant experience and qualifications to advise the embarking civil nuclear nation on, and facilitate on behalf of the embarking civil nuclear nation, 1 or more of the following activities: The development of a standardized licensing framework for— Financial assistance under this paragraph is authorized to be provided to an embarking civil nuclear nation in addition to any financial assistance provided to that embarking civil nuclear nation under paragraph (2). Not later than 1 year after December 18, 2025, the Offices of the Inspectors General for the Department of State and the Department of Energy shall coordinate— Of funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out international civil nuclear energy cooperation, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 up to $50,000,000 to carry out this subsection. The President, in coordination with international partners, as determined by the President, and industry, shall hold a biennial conference on civil nuclear safety, security, safeguards, and sustainability (referred to in this subsection as a “conference”). It is the sense of Congress that each conference should— be a forum in which ally or partner nations may engage with each other for the purpose of reinforcing the commitment to— facilitate— the development of— joint commitments and goals to improve— cooperation for enhancing the overall aspects of civil nuclear power, such as— It is the sense of Congress that each conference should include a meeting that convenes nuclear industry leaders and leaders of government agencies with expertise relating to nuclear safety, security, safeguards, or sustainability to discuss best practices relating to— The President shall consider the feasibility of leveraging existing activities or frameworks or, as necessary, establishing a center, to be known as the “Advanced Reactor Coordination and Resource Center” (referred to in this subsection as the “Center”), for the purposes of— identifying qualified organizations and service providers— coordinating with countries participating in the Center and with the Nuclear Exports Working Group established under subsection (c)— to create— The President shall carry out paragraph (1) with the objective of establishing the Center if the President determines that it is feasible to do so. There is established a working group, to be known as the “Strategic Infrastructure Fund Working Group” (referred to in this subsection as the “working group”) to provide input on the feasibility of establishing a program to support strategically important capital-intensive infrastructure projects. The working group shall be composed of— The working group shall report to the National Security Council. The working group shall— provide direction and advice to the officials described in subsection (d)(2)(B)(i) and appropriate Federal agencies, as determined by the working group, with respect to the feasibility of establishing a Strategic Infrastructure Fund (referred to in this paragraph as the “Fund”) to be used— to support those aspects of projects relating to— address critical areas in determining the appropriate design for the Fund, including— Not later than 180 days after December 18, 2025, the working group shall brief the committees described in subparagraph (C) on the status of the development of the processes necessary to implement this subsection. Not later than 1 year after December 18, 2025, the working group shall submit to the committees described in subparagraph (C) a report on the findings of the working group that includes suggested legislative text for how to establish and structure a Strategic Infrastructure Fund or an assessment of why the establishment of the Fund is not feasible. The committees referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) are— The Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall establish and maintain within the United States-India Strategic Security Dialogue a joint consultative mechanism with the Government of the Republic of India that convenes on a recurring basis— Not later than 180 days after December 18, 2025, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that describes the joint assessment developed pursuant to paragraph (1)(A). The Secretary of State shall— Not later than 1 year after December 18, 2025, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report that describes United States diplomatic engagement and negotiations for section 123 agreements. The report required by paragraph (1) 11 So in original. Probably should be “subparagraph (A)”. shall include— an analysis of current trends of global competition in the civil nuclear sphere with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China up and down the supply chain, including— The Secretary, in consultation with the relevant heads of other Federal departments and agencies, shall implement a program to enhance the global competitiveness of United States persons (as defined in section 1708(d) of title 50) who are nuclear suppliers, investors, or lenders to compete for nuclear projects in foreign countries, including— It shall be the policy of the United States— Not later than 180 days after December 18, 2025, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a strategy— The strategy required to be submitted under paragraph (2) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex. Except as expressly stated in this section, nothing in this section alters or otherwise affects the interpretation or implementation of section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) or any other provision of law, including the requirement that agreements pursuant to that section be submitted to Congress for consideration. Nothing in this section affects the authorities of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This section and the amendments made by this section shall cease to have effect on the date that is 20 years after December 18, 2025.