PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Version 36 · Passed House amended · Nov 30, 2010
Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 2010 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to add the following objectives for the civilian nuclear energy research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs: (1) reducing the costs of nuclear reactor systems; (2) reducing used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste products generated by civilian nuclear energy; (3) supporting technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty; and (5) researching and developing technologies and processes so as to improve and streamline the process by which nuclear power systems meet federal and state requirements and standards.
(Sec. 3) Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2013 for: (1) core programs; (2) research and development technology (R & D) for the fuel cycle; (3) certain nuclear energy research programs; and (4) nuclear energy enabling technologies, including crosscutting nuclear energy concepts.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of energy (DOE) to report to Congress on: (1) the scientific and technical merit of major state requirements and standards, including moratoria, that delay or impede the further development and commercialization of nuclear power; and (2) how DOE, in implementing the programs, can assist in overcoming such delays or impediments.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
(Sec. 5) Repeals the requirement that the Secretary implement: (1) the Nuclear Power 2010 program; (2) the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative; and (3) the reactor production of hydrogen.
Directs the Secretary to implement: (1) an R & D, demonstration, and commercial application program to advance nuclear power systems and technologies (reactor concepts) to sustain currently deployed systems; and (2) a small modular reactor program to promote R&D, demonstration, and commercial application of small modular reactors.
(Sec. 7) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a Nuclear Energy Research Initiative for R&D related to steam-side improvements to nuclear power plants to promote the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of: (1) cooling systems; (2) turbine technologies; (3) heat exchangers and pump design; (4) special coatings to improve lifetime of components and performance of heat exchangers; and (5) advanced power conversion systems for advanced reactor technologies. Limits funding for such Initiative.
(Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to conduct an R&D, demonstration, and commercial application program on specified fuel cycle options that improve uranium resource utilization, maximize energy generation, minimize nuclear waste creation, improve safety, mitigate risk of proliferation, and improve waste management in support of a national strategy for spent nuclear fuel and reactor concepts. Specifies among such options open cycle, modified open cycle, and full recycle technologies, as well as advanced, alternative, and deep borehole storage methods.
Authorizes the Secretary to support certain additional advanced recycling and crosscutting activities.
Directs the Secretary, in carrying out such options, to consider the final report on a long-term nuclear waste solution produced by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.
(Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to conduct a program to support the integration of certain activities undertaken through R&D programs for reactor concepts and crosscutting nuclear energy concepts.
(Sec. 10) Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on: (1) the quantitative risks associated with the potential of a severe accident arising from the use of nuclear power; and (2) current technologies to mitigate the consequences of such an accident.
(Sec. 11) Changes the location of the prototype Next Generation Nuclear reactor and associated Plant from the Idaho National Laboratory (IDL) to a construction site determined by the IDL-organized consortium of appropriate industrial partners through an open and transparent competitive selection process.
Directs the Comptroller General to submit to Congress a status update of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program.
(Sec. 12) Requires the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish a nuclear energy standards committee to facilitate the development or revision of technical standards for new and existing nuclear power plants and advanced nuclear technologies.
(Sec. 13) Directs the Secretary to arrange with the National Academies to evaluate and report to Congress on the scientific and technological challenges to the long-term maintenance and safe operation of currently deployed nuclear power reactors up to and beyond the specified design-life of reactor systems.
(Sec. 14) Requires the Secretary to prepare a database, accessible on the DOE website, of non-federal user facilities receiving federal funds that may be used for unclassified nuclear energy research.
(Sec. 15) Makes DOE responsible for disposal of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel generated by reactors under the programs authorized in this Act.
People & committees
Rep. Gordon, Bart [D-TN-6] · D–TN
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H7730-7732)
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H7730-7732)
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5866.
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7730-7733)
Mr. Gordon (TN) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 392.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Science and Technology. H. Rept. 111-658.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Science and Technology. H. Rept. 111-658.
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote .
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.5866 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.5866 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.5866 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.5866 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.