REPORT ON USE OF LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM AS FUEL FOR NAVAL NUCLEAR REACTORS.

SEC. 1042. REPORT ON USE OF LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM AS FUEL FOR NAVAL NUCLEAR REACTORS. (a) Requirement of Report.— Not later than June 1, 1995, the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the use of low-enriched uranium (instead of highly-enriched uranium) as fuel for naval nuclear reactors. (b) Contents of Report.— The report shall include an assessment of the following: (1) The advantages and disadvantages of the use of low-enriched uranium (instead of highly-enriched uranium) as fuel for naval nuclear reactors. (2) The effects of such use on the following: (A) Operating performance, ship displacement, and reactor core life, including the full range of plausible trade-offs among operating performance, ship displacement, and reactor core life that may result from such use. (B) Construction costs and operating costs. (C) Naval fuel cycles. (D) Policies of the United States for the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, including the proposal of the President for a global ban on the production of fissile materials for weapons. (3) The implications of such use for current and future United States nuclear-powered naval vessels. (4) The complexity and effectiveness of safeguards under naval fuel cycles for low-enriched uranium in relation to the complexity and effectiveness of safeguards under naval fuel cycles for highly-enriched uranium. 108 STAT. 2844 (5) The risk of theft or diversion of low-enriched uranium under naval fuel cycles for low-enriched uranium in relation to the risk of theft or diversion of highly-enriched uranium under naval fuel cycles for highly-enriched uranium. (6) The potential savings that might be achieved, and the potential additional costs that might be incurred, as a result of the use of low-enriched uranium instead of highly-enriched uranium as fuel for naval nuclear reactors. (7) Any additional information that the Secretary of the Navy considers to be appropriate.