The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy recently published its draft voluntary agreement for its Nuclear Fuel Cycle Defense Production Act Consortium in the Federal Register.
The proposed agreement published Nov. 17 sets out a framework for coordination, strategic planning and collaboration between DOE and nuclear companies.
The consortium is meant to help fill gaps in the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle and reduce reliance on foreign nuclear supply, DOE said.
The agreement is in accordance with Section 708 of the 1950 Defense Production Act, which grants the president power to mobilize domestic industrial bases to meet national defense needs during emergencies.
The agreement applies to all activities across the full nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining and milling, enrichment and spent fuel recycling and reprocessing.
The consortium will be led by the assistant secretary for nuclear energy and vice chair, which would be the deputy assistant secretary for nuclear fuel cycle. The consortium will also have a steering committee with representatives from DOE, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and industry members.
Participation is open to any domestic private-sector company. The list of participants will be published yearly in the Federal Register.
According to the proposed rule, participants must keep all records and communications related to the agreement for five years. The records must be available for review unless exempted by law.
With the consortium announced in August, DOE published an interim rule to codify procedures implementing the voluntary agreements under the Defense Production Act. On Oct. 23, the Office of Nuclear Energy held a public meeting discussing the draft voluntary agreement.
Public comment on the document closed Nov. 24.