,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #dbdb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #ah       
7legislative day1 ,may #ag71 #bjbb,mr4  
,tuberville 7for himself and ,mr4       
,marshall7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,energy and        
,natural ,resources  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
provide for the preservation and storage
 of uranium-#bcc to foster development  
of thorium molten-salt reactors1 and for
 other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this
 ,act may be cited as the ,thorium      
,energy ,security ,act of #bjbb4  #b4   
,findings ,congress makes the following 
findings3 7#a7 ,thorium molten-salt     
reactor technology was originally       
developed in the ,united ,states1       
primarily at the ,oak ,ridge ,national  
,laboratory in the ,state of ,tennessee 
under the ,molten-,salt ,reactor        
,program4  7#b7 ,before the cancellation
 of that program in #aigf1 the          
technology developed at the ,oak ,ridge 

,national ,laboratory was moving        
steadily toward efficient utilization of
 the natural thorium energy resource1   
which exists in substantial amounts in  
many parts of the ,united ,states1 and  
requires no isotopic enrichment4  7#c7  
,the ,people's ,republic of ,china is   
known to be pursuing the development of 
molten-salt reactor technology based on 
a thorium fuel cycle4  7#d7 ,thorium    
itself is not fissile1 but fertile1 and 
requires fissile material to begin a    
nuclear chain reaction4 ,this largely   
accounts for its exclusion for nuclear  
weapons developments4  7#e7             
,uranium-#bcc1 derived from neutron     
absorption by natural thorium1 is the   
ideal candidate for the fissile material
 to start a thorium reactor1 and is the 
only fissile material candidate that can
 minimize the production of long-lived  
transuranic elements like plutonium1    
which have proven a great challenge to  
the management of existing spent nuclear
 fuel4  7#f7 ,geologic disposal of spent

 nuclear fuel from conventional nuclear 
reactors continues to pose severe       
political and technical challenges1 and 
costs ,united ,states taxpayers more    
than #ejj1jjj1jjj annually in           
court-mandated payments to electrical   
utilities operating nuclear reactors4   
7#g7 ,the ,united ,states possesses the 
largest known inventory of separated    
uranium-#bcc in the world1 aggregated at
 the ,oak ,ridge ,national ,laboratory4 
7#h7 ,oak ,ridge ,national ,laboratory  
building #cjai was designated in #aifb  
as the national repository for          
uranium-#bcc storage1 and its inventory 
eventually grew to about #dej kilograms 
of separated uranium-#bcc1 along with   
approximately #a1jjj kilograms of mixed 
fissile uranium from the ,consolidated  
,edison ,uranium ,solidification        
,program 7commonly referred to as       
,,ceusp71 divided into approximately    
#a1ajj containers4  7#i7 ,the ,defense  
,nuclear ,facilities ,safety ,board     
issued ,recommendation #ig-a 7relating  

to safe storage of uranium-#bcc7 in     
#aiig because of the possibility of     
corrosion or other degradation around   
the storage of uranium-#bcc in a        
building that was built in #aidc4  7#aj7
 ,in response1 the ,department of       
,energy published ,decision ,memorandum 
,no4 #b in #bjja concluding that no     
,department of ,energy programs needed  
uranium-#bcc and directed that a        
contract be placed for disposition of   
the uranium-#bcc inventory and          
decommissioning of its storage facility4
  7#aa7 ,the ,department of ,energy     
awarded a contract for the irreversible 
downblending of uranium-#bcc with       
uranium-#bch and its geologic disposal  
in ,nevada1 which downblending would    
create a waste form that would pose     
radiological hazards for hundreds of    
thousands of years1 rather than to      
consider uranium-#bcc as a useful       
national asset4  7#ab7 ,all #a1jjj      
kilograms of ,,ceusp uranium-#bcc-;based
 material have been dispositioned 7but  

not downblended7 but those containers   
had little useful uranium-#bcc in them4 
,the majority of separated and valuable 
uranium-#bcc remains uncontaminated by  
uranium-#bch and suitable for thorium   
fuel cycle research and development4    
,that remaining inventory constitutes   
the largest supply of uranium-#bcc known
 to exist in the world today4  7#ac7    
,the ,united ,states has significant    
domestic reserves of thorium in         
accessible high-grade deposits1 which   
can provide thousands of years of clean 
energy if used efficiently in a         
liquid-fluoride reactor initially       
started with uranium-#bcc4  7#ad7       
,recently 7as of the date of the        
enactment of this ,act71 the ,department
 of ,energy has chosen to fund a series 
of advanced reactors that are all       
dependent on initial inventories and    
regular resupplies of high-assay1       
low-enriched uranium4  7#ae7 ,there is  
no domestic source of high-assay1       
low-enriched uranium fuel1 and there are

 no available estimates as to how long  
the development of a domestic supply of 
that fuel would take or how expensive   
such development would be4  7#af7 ,the  
only viable source of high-assay1       
low-enriched uranium fuel is through    
continuous import from sources in the   
,russian ,federation4  7#ag7 ,the       
political situation with the ,russian   
,federation as of the date of the       
enactment of this ,act is sufficiently  
uncertain that it would be unwise for   
,united ,states-funded advanced reactor 
development to rely on high-assay1      
low-enriched uranium since the ,russian 
,federation would be the primary source 
and can be expected to undercut any     
future ,united ,states production1      
resulting in a dependency on high-assay1
 low-enriched uranium from the ,russian 
,federation4  7#ah7 ,the ,united ,states
 has abandoned the development of a     
geologic repository at ,yucca ,mountain 
and is seeking a consenting community to
 allow interim storage of spent nuclear 

fuel1 but valid concerns persist that an
 interim storage facility will become a 
permanent storage facility4  7#ai7      
,without a closed fuel cycle1           
high-assay1 low-enriched uranium-fueled 
reactors inevitably will produce        
long-lived wastes that presently have no
 disposition pathway4  7#bj7 ,the       
,united ,states possesses enough        
uranium-#bcc to support further research
 and development as well as fuel the    
startup of several thorium reactors4    
,thorium reactors do not require        
additional fuel or high-assay1          
low-enriched uranium from the ,russian  
,federation4  7#ba7 ,continuing the     
irreversible destruction of uranium-#bcc
 precludes privately funded development 
of the thorium fuel cycle1 which would  
have long term national and economic    
security implications4  #c4 ,sense of   
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that-- 7#a7 it is in the best economic  
and national security interests of the  
,united ,states to resume development of

 thorium molten-salt reactors that can  
minimize long-lived waste production1 in
 consideration of-- 7,a7 the pursuit by 
the ,people's ,republic of ,china of    
thorium molten-salt reactors and        
associated cooperative research         
agreements with ,united ,states national
 laboratories2 and  7,b7 the present    
impasse around the geological disposal  
of nuclear waste2  7#b7 that the        
development of thorium molten-salt      
reactors is consistent with section     
#abfa of the ,john ,s4 ,mc,cain         
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjai 7,public ,law   
#aae-bcb2 #acb ,stat4 #bjfj71 which     
declared long-term strategic competition
 with the ,people's ,republic of ,china 
as a principal priority for the ,united 
,states2 and  7#c7 to resume such       
development1 it is necessary to relocate
 as much of the uranium-#bcc remaining  
at ,oak ,ridge ,national ,laboratory as 
possible to new secure storage4  #d4    
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7        

,congressional defense committees ,the  
term congressional defense committees   
has the meaning given that term in      
section #aja7;a7 of title #aj1 ,united  
,states ,code4  7#b7 ,downblend ,the    
term downblend means the process of     
adding a chemically identical isotope to
 an inventory of fissile material in    
order to degrade its nuclear value4     
7#c7 ,fissile material ,the term fissile
 material refers to uranium-#bcc1       
uranium-#bce1 plutonium-#bci1 or        
plutonium-#bda4  7#d7 ,high-assay1      
low-enriched uranium ,the term          
high-assay1 low-enriched uranium        
7commonly referred to as ,,haleu7 means 
a mixture of uranium isotopes very      
nearly but not equaling or exceeding #bj
 percent of the isotope uranium-#bce4   
7#e7 ,transuranic element ,the term     
transuranic element means an element    
with an atomic number greater than the  
atomic number of uranium 7#ib71 such as 
neptunium1 plutonium1 americium1 or     
curium4  #e4 ,preservation of           

uranium-#bcc to foster development of   
thorium molten-salt reactors ,the       
,secretary of ,energy shall preserve    
uranium-#bcc inventories that have not  
been contaminated with uranium-#bch1    
with the goal of fostering development  
of thorium molten-salt reactors by      
,united ,states industry4  #f4 ,storage 
of uranium-#bcc  7a7 ,report on         
long-,term storage of uranium-#bcc ,not 
later than #abj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,energy1 in consultation  
with the heads of other relevant        
agencies1 shall submit to ,congress a   
report identifying a suitable location  
for1 or a location that can be modified 
for1 secure long-term storage of        
uranium-#bcc4  7b7 ,report on interim   
storage of uranium-#bcc ,not later than 
#abj days after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 the ,chief of   
,engineers shall submit to ,congress a  
report identifying a suitable location  
for secure interim storage of           

uranium-#bcc4  7c7 ,report on           
construction of uranium-#bcc storage    
facility at ,redstone ,arsenal ,not     
later than #bdj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the ,chief  
of ,engineers shall submit to ,congress 
a report on the costs of constructing a 
permanent1 secure storage facility for  
uranium-#bcc at ,redstone ,arsenal1     
,alabama1 that is also suitable for     
chemical processing of uranium-#bcc     
pursuant to a public-private partnership
 with thorium reactor developers4  7d7  
,funding ,notwithstanding any other     
provision of law1 amounts authorized to 
be appropriated or otherwise made       
available for the ,u#bcc ,disposition   
,program for fiscal year #bjbb or #bjbc 
shall be made available for the transfer
 of the inventory of uranium-#bcc to the
 interim or permanent storage facilities
 identified under this section4  #g4    
,interagency cooperation on preservation
 and transfer of uranium-#bcc ,the      
,secretary of ,energy1 the ,secretary of

 the ,army 7including the head of the   
,army ,reactor ,office71 the ,secretary 
of ,transportation1 the ,tennessee      
,valley ,authority1 and other relevant  
agencies shall-- 7#a7 work together to  
preserve uranium-#bcc inventories and   
expedite transfers of uranium-#bcc to   
interim and permanent storage           
facilities2 and  7#b7 in expediting such
 transfers1 seek the assistance of      
appropriate industrial entities4  #h4   
,report on use of thorium reactors by   
,people's ,republic of ,china ,not later
 than #ahj days after the date of the   
enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller
 ,general of the ,united ,states1 in    
consultation with the ,secretary of     
,state1 the ,secretary of ,defense1 and 
the ,administrator for ,nuclear         
,security1 shall submit to ,congress a  
report that-- 7#a7 evaluates the        
progress the ,people's ,republic of     
,china has made in the development of   
thorium-based reactors2  7#b7 describes 
the extent to which that progress was   

based on ,united ,states technology2    
7#c7 details the actions the ,department
 of ,energy took in transferring        
uranium-#bcc technology to the ,people's
 ,republic of ,china2 and  7#d7 assesses
 the likelihood that the ,people's      
,republic of ,china may employ thorium  
reactors in its future navy plans4  #i4 
,report on medical market for isotopes  
of uranium-#bcc ,not later than #ahj    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,director of the         
,congressional ,budget ,office1 after   
consultation with institutions of higher
 education and private industry         
conducting medical research and the     
public1 shall submit to ,congress a     
report that estimates the medical market
 value1 during the #aj-year period after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act1
 of actinium1 bismuth1 and other        
grandchildren isotopes of uranium-#bcc  
that can be harvested without           
downblending and destroying the         
uranium-#bcc source material4  #aj4     

,report on costs to ,united ,states     
nuclear enterprise ,not later than #ahj 
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,director of the         
,congressional ,budget ,office1 after   
consultation with relevant industry     
groups and nuclear regulatory agencies1 
shall submit to ,congress a report that 
estimates1 for the #aj-year period after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act1
 the costs to the ,united ,states       
nuclear enterprise with respect to--    
7#a7 disposition of uranium-#bcc2  7#b7 
payments to nuclear facilities to store 
nuclear waste2 and  7#c7 restarting the 
manufacturing the ,united ,states of    
high-assay1 low-enriched uranium4