Long-term plan for meeting national security requirements for unencumbered uranium

1. Law
2. USC 50
3. War And National Defense
4. ATOMIC ENERGY DEFENSE PROVISIONS
5. NUCLEAR WEAPONS STOCKPILE MATTERS
6. Stockpile Stewardship and Weapons Production
7. Long-term plan for meeting national security requirements for unencumbered uranium

§2538c. Long-term plan for meeting national security requirements for unencumbered uranium

(a) In general

Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year through 2026, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the congressional defense committees a plan for meeting national security requirements for unencumbered uranium through 2065.

(b) Plan requirements

The plan required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) An inventory of unencumbered uranium (other than depleted uranium), by program source and enrichment level, that, as of the date of the plan, is allocated to national security requirements.

(2) An inventory of unencumbered uranium (other than depleted uranium), by program source and enrichment level, that, as of the date of the plan, is not allocated to national security requirements but could be allocated to such requirements.

(3) An identification of national security requirements for unencumbered uranium, by program source and enrichment level.

(4) A description of any shortfall in obtaining unencumbered uranium to meet national security requirements and an assessment of whether that shortfall could be mitigated through the blending down of uranium that is of a higher enrichment level.

(5) An inventory of unencumbered depleted uranium, an assessment of the portion of that uranium that could be allocated to national security requirements through re-enrichment, and an estimate of the costs of re-enriching that uranium.

(6) A description of the swap and barter agreements involving unencumbered uranium needed to meet national security requirements that are in effect on the date of the plan.

(7) An assessment of whether additional enrichment of uranium will be required to meet national security requirements and an estimate of the time for production operations and the cost for each type of enrichment being considered.

(8) A description of changes in policy that would mitigate any shortfall in obtaining unencumbered uranium to meet national security requirements and the implications of those changes.

(c) Form of plan

The plan required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

(d) Definitions

In this section:

(1) The term "depleted", with respect to uranium, means that the uranium is depleted in uranium-235 compared with natural uranium.

(2) The term "unencumbered", with respect to uranium, means that the United States has no obligation to foreign governments to use the uranium for only peaceful purposes.

(Pub. L. 107–314, div. D, title XLII, §4221, as added Pub. L. 114–92, div. C, title XXXI, §3131(a), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 1201 ; amended Pub. L. 115–91, div. C, title XXXI, §3133(e), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1897 .)

Amendments

2017-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–91 substituted "Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year through 2026" for "Concurrent with the submission to Congress of the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, in each even-numbered year beginning in 2016 and ending in 2026".

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