H.R. 2504 — The U.S.-European Nuclear Energy Cooperation Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings concerning Russia's February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and its threats to U.S., European, and global energy security; Ukraine's four nuclear power plants with 15 primarily Russian-designed VVER reactors; Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure; Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station since March 2022; VVER reactors operating in nine European countries; and Russia's control of approximately 20% of global uranium conversion capacity (as of 2021) and 46% of uranium enrichment capacity (as of 2020).

This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) in countries seeking or developing a nuclear power industry, the Department of State should prioritize U.S. products and services, followed by those from Europe and allied or partner countries (including Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea) when not directly competing with the United States; (2) the United States and its allies should cooperate—including through capacity building and early-stage project support—to expand the nuclear industry in Europe while maintaining nonproliferation, security, and safety standards, aligning with international obligations and treaties, and countering Russian and Chinese malign influence; and (3) the United States should continue the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology program to assist partner countries in meeting clean energy needs through scalable, flexible, secure, and safe nuclear power.

This section requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and heads of other relevant federal departments and agencies, to develop a strategy to strengthen U.S.-European nuclear energy cooperation and combat Russian malign influence in Europe's nuclear energy sector. The strategy must include at minimum: (1) an assessment of efforts to broaden U.S. nuclear industry participation in Europe and promote U.S., European, and partner technologies against Russian and Chinese alternatives; (2) an overview of nuclear reactor types in Europe (e.g., large light-water reactors, small modular light-water reactors, non-light-water reactors), including their potential roles in reducing Russian influence by 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050; deployment challenges; nonproliferation impacts; and opportunities for U.S., European, and partner technologies; (3) an analysis of fuel cycles in Europe (e.g., low-enriched uranium, high-assay low-enriched uranium, spent fuel reprocessing) and their implications for reducing Russian market share by 2030, energy security, and nonproliferation; (4) an overview of U.S.-funded reactor designs and fuel cycle infrastructure, their potential to decrease Russian market share, nonproliferation impacts, and use cases; (5) U.S. diplomatic engagements on European nuclear energy; (6) for European countries with active nuclear programs, analyses of their policies, existing cooperation with the U.S., other allies, and adversaries (including Russia and China), potential future U.S. cooperation, and fuel types used; (7) Russian and Chinese influence in Europe's nuclear sector; (8) U.S. efforts with allies to counter Russian influence across the nuclear fuel cycle and reactor construction; (9) balancing urgent collaboration needs with commercial competitiveness among U.S. firms and those from Europe, Canada, Japan, and South Korea; and (10) an assessment of Rosatom's strengths and vulnerabilities. The Secretary of State must submit the strategy to the appropriate congressional committees not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, in unclassified form with a possible separate classified annex.

This section authorizes appropriations of $30 million for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to support U.S. engagement in Europe consistent with the strategy required by section 4(a) on countering Russian malign influence, with a focus on responsible nuclear power program capacity building, early-stage nuclear power project support, and countering Russian disinformation campaigns.

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) appropriate congressional committees (i.e., the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources); (2) high assay low enriched uranium (i.e., uranium enriched to a concentration of the fissile isotope uranium-235 between 5% and 20% of the uranium mass); and (3) low enriched uranium (i.e., fuel in which the weight percent of uranium-235 is less than 20%).