H.R. 3484: ARC Act

This bill directs the President to consider the feasibility of leveraging existing activities or frameworks or, as necessary, establishing an Advanced Reactor Coordination and Resource Center to assist embarking civil nuclear nation countries in developing or expanding civil nuclear energy programs.

An embarking civil nuclear nation means a country that (1) does not have a civil nuclear energy program; (2) is in the process of developing or expanding a civil nuclear energy program; (3) is in the process of selecting, developing, constructing, or utilizing advanced light water reactors, advanced nuclear reactors, or advanced civil nuclear technologies; or (4) had an annual per capita gross domestic product of no more than $28,000 in 2020. The term excludes China, Russia, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Burma, and certain countries that pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States or support acts of international terrorism.

The term civil nuclear means activities relating to nuclear plant construction or operations, nuclear fuel services, nuclear energy financing, nuclear plant regulation, nuclear medicine, nuclear safety, community engagement, infrastructure support for nuclear energy, nuclear plant decommissioning, nuclear liability, safe storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel, environmental safeguards, nuclear nonproliferation and security, and technology related to such activities.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.