119-s1739

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1739 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1739

To provide for advocation of support for nuclear energy, and establish 
a nuclear energy assistance trust fund, at the World Bank, the European 
 Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international 
 financial institutions, as appropriate, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 13, 2025

 Mr. McCormick (for himself and Mr. Coons) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To provide for advocation of support for nuclear energy, and establish 
a nuclear energy assistance trust fund, at the World Bank, the European 
 Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international 
 financial institutions, as appropriate, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``International Nuclear Energy 
Financing Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Nuclear power is an emissions-free energy source that 
 produces approximately 30 percent of the world's low-carbon 
 electricity. In 2021, 33 countries operated nuclear power 
 plants.

    (2) The People's Republic of China and the Russian 
 Federation have sought to export nuclear reactors to Europe, 
 Eurasia, Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. According to a 
 2017 study by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy 
 Policy, Chinese and Russian nuclear reactors are associated 
 with higher safety risk than Western nuclear reactors. In 
 addition, financial and operational support for nuclear power 
 can extend over decades, allowing Beijing and Moscow to secure 
 long-term influence in both advanced and developing economies.

    (3) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
 Russian Federation is building 21 reactors outside its borders, 
 while the People's Republic of China is assembling more than 
 one-third of reactors under construction globally. According to 
 research published in Nature Energy in February 2023, when the 
 Russian Federation launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, 
 Russian state-owned nuclear operator Rosatom ``boasted as many 
 as 73 different projects in 29 countries. The projects were at 
 very different stages of development from power plants in 
 operation; through construction of reactors ongoing, 
 contracted, ordered or planned; to involvement in tenders, 
 invitations to partnerships or officially published proposals. 
 On top of that, Russian companies have bilateral agreements or 
 memoranda of understanding

    (MoUs) with 13 countries for 
 services or general joint development of nuclear energy.''.

    (4) In its report titled, ``International Status and 
 Prospects for Nuclear Power 2021'', the International Atomic 
 Energy Agency wrote, ``A total of 28 countries have expressed 
 interest in nuclear power and are considering, planning or 
 actively working to include it into their energy mix. Another 
 24 Member States participate in the Agency's nuclear 
 infrastructure related activities or are involved in energy 
 planning projects through the technical cooperation programme. 
 Ten to twelve embarking Member States plan to operate NPPs 
 [nuclear power plants] by 2030-2035, representing a potential 
 increase of nearly 30 percent in the number of operating 
 countries. Several embarking countries have also expressed 
 interest in SMRs [small modular reactors] technology, in 
 particular Estonia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Poland, Saudi Arabia 
 and Sudan, as well as expanding countries such as South 
 Africa.''.

    (5) On December 2, 2023, the United States, alongside more 
 than 20 other countries, pledged to triple nuclear energy 
 capacity by 2050 and support the financing of nuclear energy 
 through the World Bank and regional development banks, so as to 
 ``encourage the inclusion of nuclear energy in their 
 organizations' energy lending policies as needed, and to 
 actively support nuclear power when they have such a mandate''.

SEC. 3. MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANK SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY.

 Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 
262o et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``

SEC. 1506. MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANK SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 
United States Executive Director at the International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction 
and Development, and, as the Secretary determines appropriate, any 
other multilateral development bank (as defined in 

section 1307

    (g) ) to 
use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to advocate 
for--
 ``

    (1) the removal of prohibitions at the respective bank 
 against financial and technical assistance for the generation 
 and distribution of nuclear energy, to the extent that the 
 prohibitions apply to nuclear technologies that meet or exceed 
 the quality standards prevalent in the United States or a 
 country allied with the United States; and
 ``

    (2) increased internal capacity-building at the 
 respective bank for the purpose of assessing--
 ``
        (A) the potential role of nuclear energy in the 
 energy systems of client countries; and
 ``
        (B) the delivery of financial and technical 
 assistance described in paragraph

    (1) to those 
 countries.
 ``

    (b) Sunset.--This section shall have no force or effect beginning 
on the date that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of the 
International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2025.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR ENERGY ASSISTANCE TRUST FUNDS.

 Title XV of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 
262o et seq.), as amended by 

section 3, is further amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``

SEC. 1507. ESTABLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR ENERGY ASSISTANCE TRUST FUNDS.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 
United States Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction 
and Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 
and, as the Secretary determines appropriate, other international 
financial institutions to use the voice, vote, and influence of the 
United States to establish at each such institution a trust fund to be 
known as the `Nuclear Energy Assistance Trust Fund' that meets the 
requirements of subsections

    (b) and
            (c) .
 ``

    (b) 

=== Purposes ===
-The purposes of a trust fund established under 
subsection

    (a) at an international financial institution shall be the 
following:
 ``

    (1) To provide financial and technical assistance to 
 support the generation and distribution of nuclear energy in 
 borrowing countries.
 ``

    (2) To ensure that the international financial 
 institution makes financing available on competitive terms, 
 including for the purpose of countering credit extended by the 
 government of a country that is not a member of the Arrangement 
 on Officially Supported Export Credits of the Organisation for 
 Economic Cooperation and Development.
 ``

    (3) To exclusively support the adoption of nuclear energy 
 technologies that meet or exceed the quality standards 
 prevalent in the United States or a country allied with the 
 United States.
 ``

    (4) To strengthen the capacity of the international 
 financial institution to assess, implement, and evaluate 
 nuclear energy projects.
 ``
            (c) Use of Trust Fund Revenues.--The revenues of a trust fund 
established under subsection

    (a) shall be made available for activities 
for the purposes described in subsection

    (b) , or the United States 
share of those revenues shall be remitted to the general fund of the 
Treasury, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
 ``
            (d) Rule of Interpretation.--This section shall not be 
interpreted to affect the ability of the United States Governor of, or 
the United States Executive Director at, an international financial 
institution to encourage the provision of financial or technical 
assistance from resources of the institution other than a trust fund 
established under subsection

    (a) to support the generation or 
distribution of nuclear energy.
 ``

    (e) International Financial Institution Defined.--The term 
`international financial institution' means an institution specified in 

section 1701
            (c) (2) .
 ``

    (f) Sunset.--This section shall have no force or effect beginning 
on the date that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of the 
International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2025.''.

SEC. 5. INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT.

 During the 7-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Chairman of the National Advisory Council on 
International Monetary and Financial Policies shall include in the 
annual report required by 

section 1701 of the International Financial 
Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r) a description of any progress made--

    (1) to promote assistance by multilateral development banks 
 (as defined in such section) for nuclear energy; and

    (2) to establish a trust fund pursuant to 

section 1507 of 
 such Act (as added by 

section 4) or, as the case may be, a 
 summary of the activities of any such trust fund.
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