https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/House-appropriators-request-more-details-on-uraniu

The US House Committee on Appropriations has denied a funding request from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for fiscal 2021 for establishing a uranium stockpile. The committee requested further information from the department on the justification for the reserve and how it will be implemented.

However, in a 13 July report accompanying the House energy and water development appropriations bill for fiscal 2021, which begins on 1 October, the committee said the DOE "has been unable to provide specific information about how it would implement the programme, including in congressional justifications, briefings, and in responses to questions from the committee about how the funds would be spent, including the process for the purchase, conversion, or sale of uranium in a reserve".

The committee said it is concerned about "the lack of justification for a reserve and potential market implications of establishing a reserve for commercial purposes". It also noted the DOE "will require a domestic source of uranium for defence purposes in the coming decades".

The committee requested DOE submit a plan for the proposed establishment of a uranium reserve within 180 days. The plan, it said, shall include the legal authorities in place or needed to establish and operate a uranium reserve, including the purchase, conversion, and sale of uranium; a ten-year implementation plan of the activities for establishment and operations of a uranium reserve; and a ten-year cost estimate.