42 U.S.C. § 2065 — Improving the reliability of domestic medical isotope supply

(a) Medical isotope development projects. (1) The Secretary^* must run a technology-neutral program to (A) evaluate and support projects producing significant quantities of molybdenum-99 for medical use in the United States without highly enriched uranium, (B) work with non-Federal entities, and (C) share costs as required by section 16352 of this title. (2) The main evaluation criteria are: (A) how long the proposed project^* needs before it can begin United States production; (B) how much of United States demand it could produce; (C) whether it could produce molybdenum-99 cost-effectively; and (D) the project’s cost. (3) An existing United States reactor fueled with highly enriched uranium is not disqualified if the Secretary finds that (A) no alternative reactor fuel enriched to less than 20 percent U–235 can be used in it; (B) the operator promises to use such an alternative instead of highly enriched uranium whenever one can be used; and (C) the operator provides a current report on efforts to convert the reactor to such fuel and an expected completion schedule. (4) The Secretary must (A) create a program plan and update it each year through public workshops, and (B) use the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee^* to review progress toward program goals every three years and recommend ways to improve effectiveness. (b) Development assistance. The Secretary must provide assistance for (1) developing fuels, targets, and processes for domestic molybdenum-99 production that do not use highly enriched uranium, and (2) commercial operations using them. (c) Uranium lease and take-back. (1) The Secretary must create a program making low-enriched uranium available through leases for irradiation to produce medical molybdenum-99. (2) The leases must make the producers own and be responsible for the molybdenum-99 created by irradiating, processing, or purifying the leased uranium. (3)(A) The leases must require the Secretary to (i) remain responsible for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel created by those activities for medical-isotope production, and (ii) own and be responsible for final disposal of radioactive waste created by them when the Secretary decides the producer has no disposal path. (B) Before the Department accepts them, the producer must accurately describe, properly package, and transport the spent fuel and radioactive waste. (4)(A) Subject to (B), the leases must provide cash compensation equal to market rates for comparable uranium products and cash compensation equal to the Federal Government’s net present cost of (i) final disposal for which the Department is responsible under paragraph (3), and (ii) other costs of the authorized lease and take-back program. (B) The discount rate used for that net-present-value calculation may not exceed the average interest rate on marketable Treasury securities. (5) If appropriations are available, the Secretary may commit and spend lease money, which remains available until spent, on activities authorized by this subtitle, including final disposal for which the Department is responsible under paragraph (3). (6) The Secretary may not barter or sell or transfer uranium in any form in exchange for (A) services for final disposal of the spent fuel and waste for which the Department is responsible under paragraph (3), or (B) other services connected with this program. (d) Coordination of environmental reviews. The Department and Nuclear Regulatory Commission^* must, as far as practicable, ensure that environmental reviews for medical-isotope production complement each other instead of duplicating each other. (e) Operational date. The Secretary must establish the subsection (c)(3) program by January 2, 2016. (f) Radioactive waste. Despite section 10101 of this title, radioactive material from producing medical isotopes that has been permanently removed from a reactor or subcritical assembly, has no further use, and meets Federal requirements for disposal as low-level radioactive waste is considered low-level radioactive waste.