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42 U.S. Code § 16272. Reactor concepts research, development, demonstration, and commercial application
(a) Sustainability program for light water reactors
(1) In generalThe Secretary shall carry out a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including through the use of modeling and simulation, to support existing operating nuclear power plants which shall address technologies to modernize and improve, with respect to such plants—
(A)
reliability;
(B)
capacity;
(C)
component aging;
(D)
safety;
(E)
physical security and security costs;
(F)
plant lifetime;
(G)
operations and maintenance costs, including by utilizing risk-informed systems analysis;
(H)
the ability for plants to operate flexibly;
(I)
nuclear integrated energy system applications described in subsection (c);
(J)
efficiency;
(K)
environmental impacts; and
(L)
resilience.
(2) Isotope demonstration evaluation
(A) In general
Not later than 1 year after August 9, 2022, the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, shall evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of establishing and, if feasible, is authorized to establish an isotope demonstration subprogram of the program established under paragraph (1) to support the development and commercial demonstration of critical radioactive and stable isotope production in existing commercial nuclear power plants.
(B) Consultation
The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, shall consult with the Director of the Office of Science in carrying out the evaluation under subparagraph (A).
(C) Definition of critical radioactive and stable isotope
In this paragraph, the term “critical radioactive and stable isotope” has the meaning given the term in section 18649(a) of this title.
(3) Report
The Secretary shall submit annually a public report to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate documenting funds spent under the program that describes program activities, objectives, and outcomes, including those that could benefit the entirety of the existing reactor fleet, such as with respect to aging management and related sustainability concerns, and identifying funds awarded to private entities.