106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1287

AN ACT

To provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel pending

completion of the nuclear waste repository, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Waste Policy

5 Amendments Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘contract holder’’ means a party

4 to a contract with the Secretary of Energy for the

5 disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio6 active waste entered into pursuant to section 302(a)

7 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C.

8 10222(a)); and

9 (2) the terms ‘‘Administrator’’, ‘‘civilian nuclear

10 power reactor’’, ‘‘Commission’’, ‘‘Department’’, ‘‘dis11 posal’’, ‘‘high-level radioactive waste’’, ‘‘Indian

12 tribe’’, ‘‘repository’’, ‘‘reservation’’, ‘‘Secretary’’,

13 ‘‘spent nuclear fuel’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘storage’’, ‘‘Waste

14 Fund’’, and ‘‘Yucca Mountain site’’ shall have the

15 meanings given such terms in section 2 of the Nu16 clear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101).

17 TITLE I—STORAGE AND

18 DISPOSAL

19 SEC. 101. PROGRAM SCHEDULE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Secretary, and

21 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall carry out their

22 duties under this Act and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

23 of 1982 by the earliest practicable date consistent with

24 the public interest and applicable provisions of law.

25 (b) MILESTONES.—(1) The Secretary shall make a

26 final decision whether to recommend the Yucca Mountain
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1 site for development of the repository to the President by

2 December 31, 2001;

3 (2) The President shall make a final decision whether

4 to recommend the Yucca Mountain site for development

5 of the repository to the Congress by March 31, 2002;

6 (3) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall make

7 a final decision whether to authorize construction of the

8 repository by January 31, 2006; and

9 (4) As provided in subsection (c), the Secretary shall

10 begin receiving waste at the repository site at the earliest

11 practicable date and no later than eighteen months after

12 receiving construction authorization from the Nuclear

13 Regulatory Commission.

14 (c) RECEIPT FACILITIES.—(1) As part of the submis15 sion of an application for a construction authorization pur16 suant to section 114(b) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act

17 of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(b)), the Secretary shall apply

18 to the Commission to receive and possess spent nuclear

19 fuel and high-level radioactive waste at surface facilities

20 within the geologic repository operations area for the re21 ceipt, handling, packaging, and storage prior to emplace22 ment.

23 (2) As part of the issuance of the construction au24 thorization under section 114(b) of the Nuclear Waste

25 Policy Act of 1982, the Commission shall authorize con-
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1 struction of surface facilities described in subsection (c)(1)

2 and the receipt and possession of spent nuclear fuel and

3 high-level radioactive waste at such surface facilities with4 in the geologic repository operations area for the purposes

5 in subsection (c)(1), in accordance with such standards

6 as the Commission finds are necessary to protect the pub7 lic health and safety.

8 SEC. 102. BACKUP STORAGE CAPACITY.

9 (a) Subject to section 105(d), the Secretary shall

10 enter into a contract under this subsection with any per11 son generating or owning spent nuclear fuel that meets

12 the requirements of section 135(b)(1) (A) and (B) of the

13 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10155(b)(1)

14 (A) and (B)) to—

15 (1) take title at the civilian nuclear power reac16 tor site to such amounts of spent nuclear fuel from

17 the civilian nuclear power reactor as the Commission

18 determines cannot be stored onsite; and

19 (2) transport such spent nuclear fuel to, and

20 store such spent nuclear fuel at, the repository site

21 after the Commission has authorized construction of

22 the repository without regard to the Secretary’s Ac23 ceptance Priority Ranking report or Annual Capac24 ity report.
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1 SEC. 103. REPOSITORY LICENSING.

2 (a) ADOPTION OF STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding

3 the time schedule in section 801(a)(1) of the Energy Pol4 icy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note), the Adminis5 trator shall not publish or adopt public health and safety

6 standards for the protection of the public from releases

7 from radioactive materials stored or disposed of in the re8 pository at the Yucca Mountain site—

9 (1) except in accordance with this section; and

10 (2) before June 1, 2001.

11 (b) CONSULTATION AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—

12 (1) Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this

13 Act, the Administrator shall provide the Commission and

14 the National Academy of Sciences—

15 (A) a detailed written comparison of the provi16 sions of the proposed Environmental Protection

17 Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada, published

18 in the Federal Register on August 27, 1999 (64

19 Fed. Reg. 46,975) with the recommendations made

20 by the National Academy of Sciences in its report,

21 Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards,

22 pursuant to section 801(a)(2) of the Energy Policy

23 Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note); and

24 (B) the scientific basis for the proposed rule.

25 (2) Not later than April 1, 2001, the Commission and

26 the National Academy of Sciences shall, based on the pro-
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1 posed rule and the information provided by the Adminis2 trator under paragraph (1), each submit a report to Con3 gress on whether the proposed rule—

4 (A) is consistent with section 801(a)(2) of the

5 Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 10141 note);

6 (B) provide a reasonably expectation that the

7 public health and safety and the environment will be

8 adequately protected from the hazards posed by

9 high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel

10 disposed of in the repository;

11 (C) is based on the best reasonably obtainable

12 scientific and technical information concerning the

13 need for, and consequences of, the rule; and

14 (D) imposes the least burden, consistent with

15 obtaining the regulatory objective of protecting the

16 public health and safety and the environment.

17 (3) In the event that either the Commission or the

18 National Academy of Sciences finds that the proposed rule

19 does not meet one or more of the criteria listed in para20 graph (2), it shall notify the Administrator not later than

21 April 1, 2001 of its finding and the basis for such finding.

22 (c) APPLICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW PRO23 CEDURES.—Any final rule promulgated under section

24 801(a)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.

25 10141 note) shall be treated as a major rule for purposes
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1 of chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, and shall be

2 subject to all the requirements and procedures pertaining

3 to a major rule in such chapter.

4 (d) CAPACITY.—Section 114(d) of the Nuclear Waste

5 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)) is amended by

6 striking ‘‘The Commission decision approving the first

7 such application . . .’’ through the period at the end of

8 the sentence.

9 SEC. 104. NUCLEAR WASTE FEE.

10 The last sentence of section 302(a)(4) of the Nuclear

11 Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(4)) is

12 amended to read as follows: ‘‘The adjusted fee proposed

13 by the Secretary shall be effective upon enactment of a

14 joint resolution or other provision of law specifically ap15 proving the adjusted fee.’’.

16 SEC. 105. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, upon the re18 quest of any person with whom he has entered into a con19 tract under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy

20 Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)), enter into a settlement

21 agreement with the contract holder to—

22 (1) relieve any harm caused by the Secretary’s

23 failure to meet the Department’s commitment, or

24 (2) settle any legal claims against the United

25 States arising out of such failure.
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1 (b) TYPES OF RELIEF.—Pursuant to a settlement

2 agreement entered into under this section, the Secretary

3 may—

4 (1) provide spent nuclear fuel storage casks to

5 the contract holder;

6 (2) compensate the contract holder for the cost

7 of providing spent nuclear fuel storage at the con8 tract holders’ storage facility; or

9 (3) provide any combination of the foregoing.

10 (c) SCOPE OF RELIEF.—The Secretary’s obligation

11 to provide the relief under subsection (b) shall not exceed

12 the Secretary’s obligation to accept delivery of such spent

13 fuel under the terms of the Secretary’s contract with such

14 contract holder under section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste

15 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)), including any

16 otherwise permissible assignment of rights.

17 (d) WAIVER OF CLAIMS.—(1) The Secretary may not

18 enter into a settlement agreement under subsection (a) or

19 (f) or a backup contract under section 102(a) with any

20 contract holder unless the contract holder—

21 (A) notifies the Secretary within 180 days after

22 the date of enactment of this Act of its intent to

23 enter into a settlement negotiations, and

24 (B) as part of such settlement agreement or

25 backup contract, waives any claim for damages
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1 against the United States arising out of the Sec2 retary’s failure to begin disposing of such person’s

3 high-level waste or spent nuclear fuel by January

4 31, 1998.

5 (2) Nothing in this subsection shall be read to

6 require a contract holder to waive any future claim

7 against the United States arising out of the Sec8 retary’s failure to meet any new obligation assumed

9 under a settlement agreement or backup storage

10 agreement, including any obligation related to the

11 movement of spent fuel by the Department.

12 (e) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding section

13 302(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

14 U.S.C. 10222(d)), the Secretary may not make expendi15 tures from the Nuclear Waste Fund for any costs that

16 may be incurred by the Secretary pursuant to a settlement

17 agreement or backup storage contract under this Act

18 except—

19 (1) the cost of acquiring and loading spent nu20 clear fuel casks;

21 (2) the cost of transporting spent nuclear fuel

22 from the contract holder’s site to the repository; and

23 (3) any other cost incurred by the Secretary re24 quired to perform a settlement agreement or backup

25 storage contract that would have been incurred by
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1 the Secretary under the contracts entered into under

2 section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

3 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) notwithstanding their

4 amendment pursuant to this Act.

5 (f) REACTOR DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—(1) Not

6 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the

7 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2000, and not8 withstanding Section 302(a)(5) of the Nuclear Waste Pol9 icy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(5)), the Secretary

10 is authorized to take title to the spent nuclear fuel with11 drawn from the demonstration reactor remaining from the

12 Cooperative Power Reactor Demonstration Program (Pub.

13 L. No. 87–315, Sec. 109, 75 Stat. 679), the Dairyland

14 Power Cooperative La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor. Im15 mediately upon the Secretary’s taking title to the

16 Dairyland Power Cooperative La Crosse Boiling Water

17 Reactor spent nuclear fuel, the Secretary shall assume all

18 responsibility and liability for the interim storage and per19 manent disposal thereof and is authorized to compensate

20 Dairyland Power Cooperative for any costs related to oper21 ating and maintaining facilities necessary for such stor22 age, from the date of taking title until the Secretary re23 moves the spent nuclear fuel from the Dairyland Power

24 Cooperative La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor site. The

25 Secretary’s obligation to take title or compensate the hold-
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1 er of the Dairyland Power Cooperative La Crosse Boiling

2 Water Reactor spent nuclear fuel under this subsection

3 shall include all of such fuel, regardless of the delivery

4 commitment schedule for such fuel under the Secretary’s

5 contract with the Dairyland Power Cooperative as the con6 tract holder under Section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste

7 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) or the accept8 ance schedule for such fuel under section 106 of this Act.

9 (2) As a condition to the Secretary’s taking of title

10 to the Dairyland Power Cooperative La Crosse Boiling

11 Water Reactor spent nuclear fuel, the contract holder for

12 such fuel shall enter into a settlement agreement con13 taining a waiver of claims against the United States as

14 provided in this section.

15 (g) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—(1) Nothing in this section

16 shall limit the Secretary’s existing authority to enter into

17 settlement agreements or address shutdown reactors and

18 any associated public health and safety or environmental

19 concerns that may arise.

20 (2) Nothing in this Act diminishes obligations im21 posed upon the Federal Government by the United States

22 District Court of Idaho in an order entered on October

23 17, 1995 in United States v. Batt (No. 91–0054–S–EJL).

24 To the extent this Act imposes obligations on the Federal
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1 Government that are greater than those imposed by the

2 court order, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.

3 SEC. 106. ACCEPTANCE SCHEDULE.

4 (a) PRIORITY RANKING.—Acceptance priority rank5 ing shall be determined by the Department’s ‘‘Acceptance

6 Priority Ranking’’ report.

7 (b) ACCEPTANCE RATE.—As soon as practicable

8 after construction authorization, but no later than eight9 een months after the year of issuance of a license to re10 ceive and possess spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio11 active waste under section 101(c), the Secretary’s total ac12 ceptance rate for all spent nuclear fuel and high-level

13 waste shall be a rate no less than the following as meas14 ured in metric tons uranium (MTU), assuming that each

15 high-level waste canister contains 0.5 MTU: 500 MTU in

16 year 1, 700 MTU in year 2, 1,300 MTU in year 3, 2,100

17 MTU in year 4, 3,100 MTU in year 5, 3,300 MTU in

18 years 6, 7, and 8, 3,400 MTU in years 9 through 24, and

19 3,900 MTU in year 25 and thereafter.

20 (c) OTHER ACCEPTANCES.—Subject to the conditions

21 contained in the license to receive and possess spent nu22 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste issued under

23 section 101(c), of the amounts provided for in paragraph

24 (b) for each year, not less than one-sixth shall be—
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1 (1) spent nuclear fuel or civilian high-level ra2 dioactive waste of domestic origin from civilian nu3 clear power reactors that have permanently ceased

4 operation on or before the date of enactment of the

5 Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments of 2000;

6 (2) spent nuclear fuel from foreign research re7 actors, as necessary to promote nonproliferation ac8 tivities; and

9 (3) spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

10 waste from research and atomic energy defense ac11 tivities, including spent nuclear fuel from naval reac12 tors:

13 Provided, however, That the Secretary shall accept not less

14 than 7.5 percent of the total quantity of fuel and high15 level radioactive waste accepted in any year from the cat16 egories of radioactive materials described in paragraphs

17 (2) and (3) in subsection (c). If sufficient amounts of ra18 dioactive materials are not available to utilize this alloca19 tion, the Secretary shall allocate this acceptance capacity

20 to other contract holders.

21 (d) EFFECT ON SCHEDULE.—The contractual ac22 ceptance schedule shall not be modified in any way as a

23 result of the Secretary’s acceptance of any material other

24 than contract holders’ spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra25 dioactive waste.
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1 (e) MULTI-YEAR SHIPPING CAMPAIGNS.—Consistent

2 with the acceptance schedule, the Secretary shall, in con3 junction with contract holders, define a specified multi4 year period for each shipping campaign and establish cri5 teria under which the Secretary could accept contract

6 holders’ cumulative allocations of spent nuclear fuel dur7 ing the campaign period at one time and thereby enhance

8 the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of spent nuclear fuel

9 and high-level waste acceptance.

10 SEC. 107. INITIAL LAND CONVEYANCES.

11 (a) CONVEYANCES OF PUBLIC LANDS.—One hundred

12 and twenty days after enactment, all right, title and inter13 est of the United States in the property described in sub14 section (b), and improvements thereon, together with all

15 necessary easements for utilities and ingress and egress

16 to such property, including, but not limited to, the right

17 to improve those easements, are conveyed by operation of

18 law to the County of Nye, County of Lincoln, or the City

19 of Caliente, Nevada, unless the county notifies the Sec20 retary of the Interior or the head of such other appro21 priate agency in writing within 60 days of such date that

22 it elects not to take title to all or any part of the property,

23 except that any lands conveyed to the County of Nye

24 under this subsection that are subject to a Federal grazing

25 permit or lease or a similar federally granted permit or
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1 lease shall be conveyed between 60 and 120 days of the

2 earliest time the Federal agency administering or granting

3 the permit or lease would be able to legally terminate such

4 right under the statutes and regulations existing at the

5 date of enactment of this Act, unless Nye County and the

6 affected holder of the permit or lease negotiate an agree7 ment that allows for an earlier conveyance.

8 (b) SPECIAL CONVEYANCES.—Subject to valid exist9 ing rights and notwithstanding any other law, the Sec10 retary of the Interior or the head of the other appropriate

11 agency shall convey:

12 (1) To the County of Nye, Nevada, the fol13 lowing public lands depicted on the maps dated Feb14 ruary 1, 2000, and on file with the Secretary:

15 Map 1: Proposed Pahrump Industrial Park

16 Site

17 Map 2: Proposed Lathrop Wells (Gate

18 510) Industrial Park Site

19 Map 3: Pahrump Landfill Sites

20 Map 4: Amargosa Valley Regional Landfill

21 Site

22 Map 5: Amargosa Valley Municipal Land23 fill Site

24 Map 6: Beatty Landfill/Transfer Station

25 Site
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1 Map 7: Round Mountain Landfill Site

2 Map 8: Tonopah Landfill Site

3 Map 9: Gabbs Landfill Site.

4 (2) To the County of Nye, Nevada, the fol5 lowing public lands depicted on the maps dated Feb6 ruary 1, 2000, and on file with the Secretary:

7 Map 1: Beatty

8 Map 2: Ione/Berlin

9 Map 3: Manhattan

10 Map 4: Round Mountain/Smoky Valley

11 Map 5: Tonopah

12 Map 6: Armargosa Valley

13 Map 7: Pahrump.

14 (3) To the County of Lincoln, Nevada, the fol15 lowing public lands depicted on the maps dated Feb16 ruary 1, 2000, and on file with the Secretary:

17 Map 2: Lincoln County, Parcel M, Indus18 trial Park Site, Jointly with the City of Caliente

19 Map 3: Lincoln County, Parcels F and G,

20 Mixed Use, Industrial Sites

21 Map 4: Lincoln County, Parcels H and I,

22 Mixed Use and Airport Expansion Sites

23 Map 5: Lincoln County, Parcels J and K,

24 Mixed Use, Airport and Landfill Expansion

25 Sites
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1 Map 6: Lincoln County, Parcels E and L,

2 Mixed Use, Airport and Industrial Expansion

3 Sites.

4 (4) To the City of Caliente, Nevada, the fol5 lowing public lands depicted on the maps dated Feb6 ruary 1, 2000, and on file with the Secretary:

7 Map 1: City of Caliente, Parcels A, B, C

8 and D, Community Growth, Landfill Expansion

9 and Community Recreation Sites

10 Map 2: City of Caliente, Parcel M, Indus11 trial Park Site, Jointly with Lincoln County.

12 (5) To the City of Caliente, Nevada, the fol13 lowing public lands depicted on the maps dated Feb14 ruary 1, 2000, and on file with the Secretary:

15 Map 1: City of Caliente, Industrial Park

16 Site Expansion.

17 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—The maps and legal descrip18 tions of special conveyance referred to in subsection (b)

19 shall have the same force and effect as if they were in20 cluded in this Act. The Secretary may correct clerical and

21 typographical errors in the maps and legal descriptions

22 and make minor adjustments in the boundaries of the

23 sites.

24 (d) EVIDENCE OF TITLE TRANSFER.—Upon the re25 quest of the County of Lincoln or the County of Nye, Ne-
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1 vada, the Secretary of the Interior shall provide evidence

2 of title transfer.

3 (e) CONSENT.—(1) The acceptance or use of any of

4 the benefits provided under this title by any affected unit

5 of local government shall not be deemed to be an expres6 sion of consent, express or implied, either under the Con7 stitution of the State of Nevada or any law thereof, to

8 the siting of the repository in the State of Nevada, any

9 provision of such Constitution or laws to the contrary not10 withstanding.

11 (2) ARGUMENTS.—Neither the United States nor any

12 other entity may assert any argument based on legal or

13 equitable estoppel, or acquiescence, or waiver, or consen14 sual involvement, in response to any decision by the State

15 of Nevada, to oppose the siting in Nevada of the repository

16 premised upon or related to the acceptance or use of bene17 fits under this title.

18 (3) LIABILITY.—No liability of any nature shall ac19 crue to be asserted against the State of Nevada, its Gov20 ernor, any official thereof, or any official of any govern21 mental unit thereof, premised solely upon the acceptance

22 or use of benefits under this title.
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1 TITLE II—TRANSPORTATION

2 SEC. 201. TRANSPORTATION.

3 Section 180 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982

4 (42 U.S.C. 10175) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘TRANSPORTATION

6 ‘‘SEC. 180. (a) IN GENERAL.—The transportation of

7 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from

8 any civilian nuclear power reactor to any other civilian nu9 clear power reactor or to any Department of Energy Facil10 ity, by or for the Secretary, or by or for any person who

11 owns or generates spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio12 active waste, shall be subject to licensing and regulation

13 by the Commission and the Secretary of Transportation

14 under all applicable provisions of existing law.

15 ‘‘(1) PREFERRED SHIPPING ROUTES.—The Sec16 retary shall select and cause to be used preferred

17 shipping routes for the transportation of spent nu18 clear fuel and high level radioactive waste from each

19 shipping origin to the repository in accordance with

20 the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of

21 Transportation under authority of the Hazardous

22 Materials Transportation Act (chapter 51 of title 49,

23 United State Code) and by the Nuclear Regulatory

24 Commission under authority of the Atomic Energy

25 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.).
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1 ‘‘(2) STATE REROUTING.—For purposes of this

2 section, a preferred route shall be an Interstate Sys3 tem highway for which an alternative route is not

4 designated by a State routing agency, or a State5 designated route designated by a State routing agen6 cy pursuant to section 397.103 of title 49, Code of

7 Federal Regulations.

8 ‘‘(b) SHIPPING CONTAINERS.—No spent nuclear fuel

9 or high-level radioactive waste may be transported by or

10 for the Secretary under this Act except in packages—

11 ‘‘(1) the design of which has been certified by

12 the Commission; and

13 ‘‘(2) that have been determined by the Commis14 sion to satisfy its quality assurance requirements.

15 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall provide ad16 vance notification to States and Indian tribes through

17 whose jurisdiction the Secretary plans to transport spent

18 nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

19 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

21 ‘‘(A) STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.—As

22 provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall

23 provide technical assistance and funds to States

24 and Indian tribes for training of public safety

25 officials or appropriate units of State, local, and
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1 tribal government. A State shall allocate to

2 local governments within the State a portion of

3 any funds that the Secretary provides to the

4 State for technical assistance and funding.

5 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS.—The

6 Secretary shall provide technical assistance and

7 funds for training directly to nonprofit em8 ployee organizations, voluntary emergency re9 sponse organizations, and joint labor-manage10 ment organizations that demonstrate experience

11 in implementing and operating worker health

12 and safety training and education programs

13 and demonstrate the ability to reach and in14 volve in training programs target populations of

15 workers who are or will be directly engaged in

16 the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

17 high-level radioactive waste or emergency re18 sponse or post-emergency response with respect

19 to such transportation.

20 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—Training under this

21 section—

22 ‘‘(i) shall cover procedures required

23 for safe routine transportation of materials

24 and procedures for dealing with emergency

25 response situations;
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall be consistent with any

2 training standards established by the Sec3 retary of Transportation under subsection

4 (h); and

5 ‘‘(iii) shall include—

6 ‘‘(I) a training program applica7 ble to persons responsible for respond8 ing to emergency situations occurring

9 during the removal and transportation

10 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

11 radioactive waste;

12 ‘‘(II) instruction of public safety

13 officers in procedures for the com14 mand and control of the response to

15 any incident involving the waste; and

16 ‘‘(III) instruction of radiological

17 protection and emergency medical per18 sonnel in procedures for responding to

19 an incident involving spent nuclear

20 fuel or high-level radioactive waste

21 being transported.

22 ‘‘(2) NO SHIPMENTS IF NO TRAINING.—

23 ‘‘(A) There shall be no shipments by the

24 Secretary of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

25 radioactive waste through the jurisdiction of
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1 any State or the reservation lands of any In2 dian tribe eligible for grants under paragraph

3 (3)(B) to the repository until the Secretary has

4 made a determination that personnel in all

5 State, local, and tribal jurisdictions on primary

6 and alternative shipping routes have met ac7 ceptable standards of training for emergency re8 sponses to accidents involving spent nuclear fuel

9 and high-level radioactive waste, as established

10 by the Secretary, and unless technical assist11 ance and funds to implement procedures for the

12 safe routine transportation and for dealing with

13 emergency response situations under paragraph

14 (1)(A) have been available to a State or Indian

15 tribe for at least 3 years prior to any shipment:

16 Provided, however, That the Secretary may ship

17 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

18 waste if technical assistance or funds have not

19 been made available because of—

20 ‘‘(i) an emergency, including the sud21 den and unforeseen closure of a highway or

22 rail line or the sudden and unforeseen need

23 to remove spent fuel from a reactor be24 cause of an accident, or
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1 ‘‘(ii) the refusal to accept technical as2 sistance by a State or Indian tribe, or

3 ‘‘(iii) fraudulent actions which violate

4 Federal law governing the expenditure of

5 Federal funds.

6 ‘‘(B) In the event the Secretary is required

7 to transport spent fuel or high-level radioactive

8 waste through a jurisdiction prior to 3 years

9 after the provision of technical assistance or

10 funds to such jurisdiction, the Secretary shall,

11 prior to such shipment, hold meetings in each

12 State and Indian reservation through which the

13 shipping route passes in order to present initial

14 shipment plans and receive comments. Depart15 ment of Energy personnel trained in emergency

16 response shall escort each shipment. Funds and

17 all Department of Energy training resources

18 shall be made available to States and Indian

19 tribes along the shipping route no later than

20 three months prior to the commencement of

21 shipments: Provided, however, That in no event

22 shall such shipments exceed 1,000 metric tons

23 per year: Provided further, That no such ship24 ments shall be conducted more than four years
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1 after the effective date of the Nuclear Waste

2 Policy Amendments Act of 2000.

3 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To implement this

5 section, the Secretary may make expenditures

6 from the Nuclear Waste Fund to the extent

7 provided for in appropriation Acts.

8 ‘‘(B) GRANTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

9 PLANS.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary

11 shall make a grant of at least $150,000 to

12 each State through the jurisdiction of

13 which and each federally recognized Indian

14 tribe through the reservation lands of

15 which one or more shipments of spent nu16 clear fuel or high-level radioactive waste

17 will be made under this Act for the pur18 pose of developing a plan to prepare for

19 such shipments.

20 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—A grant shall be

21 made under clause (i) only to a State or a

22 federally recognized Indian tribe that has

23 the authority to respond to incidents in24 volving shipments of hazardous material.
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1 ‘‘(C) GRANTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF

2 PLANS.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Annual implemen4 tation grants shall be made to States and

5 Indian tribes that have developed a plan to

6 prepare for shipments under this Act

7 under subparagraph (B). The Secretary, in

8 submitting the annual departmental budg9 et to Congress for funding of implementa10 tion grants under this section, shall be

11 guided by the State and tribal plans devel12 oped under subparagraph (B). As part of

13 the Department of Energy’s annual budget

14 request, the Secretary shall report to Con15 gress on—

16 ‘‘(I) the funds requested by

17 States and federally recognized Indian

18 tribes to implement this subsection;

19 ‘‘(II) the amount requested by

20 the President for implementation; and

21 ‘‘(III) the rationale for any dis22 crepancies between the amounts re23 quested by States and federally recog24 nized Indian tribes and the amounts

25 requested by the President.
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1 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION.—Of funds avail2 able for grants under this subparagraph

3 for any fiscal year—

4 ‘‘(I) 25 percent shall be allocated

5 by the Secretary to ensure minimum

6 funding and program capability levels

7 in all States and Indian tribes based

8 on plans developed under subpara9 graph (B); and

10 ‘‘(II) 75 percent shall be allo11 cated to States and Indian tribes in

12 proportion to the number of shipment

13 miles that are projected to be made in

14 total shipments under this Act

15 through each jurisdiction.

16 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR SHIP17 MENTS.—Funds under paragraph (1) shall be pro18 vided for shipments to a repository, regardless of

19 whether the repository is operated by a private enti20 ty or by the Department of Energy.

21 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORT

22 AND EXPENSES.—The Secretaries of Transportation,

23 Labor, and Energy, Directors of the Federal Emer24 gency Management Agency and National Institute of

25 Environmental Health Sciences, the Nuclear Regu-
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1 latory Commission, and Administrator of the Envi2 ronmental Protection Agency shall review periodi3 cally, with the head of each department, agency, or

4 instrumentality of the Government, all emergency re5 sponse and preparedness training programs of that

6 department, agency, or instrumentality to minimize

7 duplication of effort and expense of the department,

8 agency, or instrumentality in carrying out the pro9 grams and shall take necessary action to minimize

10 duplication.

11 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall

12 conduct a program, in cooperation with corridor States

13 and tribes, to inform the public regarding the transpor14 tation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

15 waste, with an emphasis on those States, units of local

16 government, and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction

17 the Secretary plans to transport substantial amounts of

18 spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste.

19 ‘‘(f) USE OF PRIVATE CARRIERS.—The Secretary, in

20 providing for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and

21 high-level radioactive waste under this Act, shall contract

22 with private industry to the fullest extent possible in each

23 aspect of such transportation. The Secretary shall use di24 rect Federal services for such transportation only upon a

25 determination by the Secretary of Transportation, in con-
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1 sultation with the Secretary, that private industry is un2 able or unwilling to provide such transportation services

3 at a reasonable cost.

4 ‘‘(g) COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSPORTATION REGULA5 TIONS.—Any person that transports spent nuclear fuel or

6 high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Pol7 icy Amendments Act of 2000, pursuant to a contract with

8 the Secretary, shall comply with all requirements gov9 erning such transportation issued by the Federal, State

10 and local governments, and Indian tribes, in the same way

11 and to the same extent that any person engaging in that

12 transportation that is in or affects interstate commerce

13 must comply with such requirements, as required by sec14 tion 5126 of title 49, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(h) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—Any person engaged

16 in the interstate commerce of spent nuclear fuel or high17 level radioactive waste under contract to the Secretary

18 pursuant to this Act shall be subject to and comply fully

19 with the employee protection provisions of section 20109

20 of title 49, United States Code (in the case of employees

21 of railroad carriers) and section 31105 of title 49, United

22 States Code (in the case of employees operating commer23 cial motor vehicles), or the Commission (in the case of all

24 other employees).

25 ‘‘(i) TRAINING STANDARD.—
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1 ‘‘(1) REGULATION.—No later than 12 months

2 after the date of enactment of the Nuclear Waste

3 Policy Amendments Act of 2000, the Secretary of

4 Transportation, pursuant to authority under other

5 provisions of law, in consultation with the Secretary

6 of Labor and the Commission, shall promulgate a

7 regulation establishing training standards applicable

8 to workers directly involved in the removal and

9 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

10 radioactive waste. The regulation shall specify min11 imum training standards applicable to workers, in12 cluding managerial personnel. The regulation shall

13 require that the employer possess evidence of satis14 faction of the applicable training standard before

15 any individual may be employed in the removal and

16 transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

17 radioactive waste.

18 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION.—If the

19 Secretary of Transportation determines, in promul20 gating the regulation required by paragraph (1),

21 that existing Federal regulations establish adequate

22 training standards for workers, then the Secretary

23 of Transportation can refrain from promulgating ad24 ditional regulations with respect to worker training

25 in such activities. The Secretary of Transportation
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1 and the Commission shall, by Memorandum of Un2 derstanding, ensure coordination of worker training

3 standards and to avoid duplicative regulation.

4 ‘‘(3) TRAINING STANDARDS CONTENT.—(A) If

5 training standards are required to be promulgated

6 under paragraph (1), such standards shall, among

7 other things deemed necessary and appropriate by

8 the Secretary of Transportation, provide for—

9 ‘‘(i) a specified minimum number of hours

10 of initial offsite instruction and actual field ex11 perience under the direct supervision of a

12 trained, experienced supervisor;

13 ‘‘(ii) a requirement that onsite managerial

14 personnel receive the same training as workers,

15 and a minimum number of additional hours of

16 specialized training pertinent to their manage17 rial responsibilities; and

18 (iii) a training program applicable to per19 sons responsible for responding to and cleaning

20 up emergency situations occurring during the

21 removal and transportation of spent nuclear

22 fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

23 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Transportation may

24 specify an appropriate combination of knowledge,
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1 skills, and prior training to fulfill the minimum

2 number of hours requirements of clauses (i) and (ii).

3 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY RESPONDER TRAINING

4 STANDARDS.—The training standards for persons

5 responsible for responding to emergency situations

6 occurring during the removal and transportation of

7 spent nuclear and high-level radioactive waste shall,

8 in accordance with existing regulations, ensure their

9 ability to protect nearby persons, property, or the

10 environment from the effects of accidents involving

11 spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

12 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to

13 be appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation,

14 from general revenues, such sums as may be nec15 essary to perform his duties under this subsection.’’.

16 TITLE III—DEVELOPMENT OF

17 NATIONAL SPENT NUCLEAR

18 FUEL STRATEGY

19 SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

20 (a) Prior to permanent closure of the geologic reposi21 tory in Yucca Mountain, Congress must determine wheth22 er the spent fuel in the repository should be treated as

23 waste subject to permanent burial or should be considered

24 an energy resource that is needed to meet future energy

25 requirements.
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1 (b) Future use of nuclear energy may require con2 struction of a second geologic repository unless Yucca

3 Mountain can safely accommodate additional spent fuel.

4 Improved spent fuel strategies may increase the capacity

5 of Yucca Mountain.

6 (c) Prior to construction of any second permanent

7 geologic repository, the nation’s current plans for perma8 nent burial of spent fuel should be re-evaluated.

9 SEC. 302. OFFICE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL RESEARCH.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

11 an Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research within the Of12 fice of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology of the De13 partment of Energy. The Office shall be headed by the

14 Associate Director, who shall be a member of the Senior

15 Executive Service appointed by the Director of the Office

16 of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, and com17 pensated at a rate determined by applicable law.

18 (b) ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR.—The Associate Director

19 of the Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research shall be re20 sponsible for carrying out an integrated research, develop21 ment, and demonstration program on technologies for

22 treatment, recycling, and disposal of high-level nuclear ra23 dioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, subject to the gen24 eral supervision of the Secretary. The Associate Director

25 of the Office shall report to the Director of the Office of
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1 Nuclear Energy Science and Technology. The first such

2 Associate Director shall be appointed within 90 days of

3 the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments

4 Act of 2000.

5 (c) GRANT AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In car6 rying out his responsibilities under this section, the Sec7 retary may make grants, or enter into contracts, for the

8 purposes of the research projects and activities described

9 in (d)(2).

10 (d) DUTIES.—(1) The Associate Director of the Of11 fice shall involve national laboratories, universities, the

12 commercial nuclear industry, and other organizations to

13 investigate technologies for the treatment, recycling, and

14 disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

15 waste.

16 (2) The Associate Director of the Office shall—

17 (A) develop a research plan to provide rec18 ommendations by 2015;

19 (B) identify promising technologies for the

20 treatment, recycling, and disposal of spent nuclear

21 fuel and high-level radioactive waste;

22 (C) conduct research and development activities

23 for promising technologies;

24 (D) ensure that all activities include as key ob25 jectives minimization of proliferation concerns and
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1 risk to the health of the general public or site work2 ers, as well as development of cost-effective tech3 nologies;

4 (E) require research on both reactor- and accel5 erator-based transmutation systems;

6 (F) require research on advanced processing

7 and separations;

8 (G) ensure that research efforts with this Office

9 are coordinated with research on advanced fuel cy10 cles and reactors conducted within the Office of Nu11 clear Energy Science and Technology.

12 (e) REPORT.—The Associate Director of the Office

13 of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research shall annually prepare

14 and submit a report to the Congress on the activities and

15 expenditures of the Office that discusses progress being

16 made in achieving the objectives of subsection (b).

17 TITLE IV—GENERAL AND

18 MISCELLANEOUS

19 SEC. 401. DECOMMISSIONING PILOT PROGRAM.

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

21 establish a Decommissioning Pilot Program to decommis22 sion and decontaminate the sodium-cooled fast breeder ex23 perimental test-site reactor located in northwest Arkansas.
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1 (b) FUNDING.—No funds from the Nuclear Waste

2 Fund may be used for the Decommissioning Pilot Pro3 gram.

4 SEC. 402. REPORTS.

5 (a) The Secretary is directed to report within 90 days

6 from enactment of this Act regarding all alternatives avail7 able to Northern States Power Company and the Federal

8 Government which would allow Northern States Power

9 Company to operate the Prairie Island Nuclear Gener10 ating Plant until the end of the term of its current Nu11 clear Regulatory Commission licenses, assuming existing

12 State and Federal laws remain unchanged.

13 (b) Within six months of enactment of this Act, the

14 General Accounting Office is directed to report back to

15 the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

16 and the House Committee on Commerce on the potential

17 economic impacts to Minnesota, North Dakota, South Da18 kota, Wisconsin, and Michigan ratepayers should the Prai19 rie Island Nuclear Generating Plant cease operations once

20 it has met its State-imposed storage limitation, including

21 the costs of new generation, decommissioning costs, and

22 the costs of continued operation of onsite storage of spent

23 nuclear fuel storage.
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1 SEC. 403. SEPARABILITY.

2 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such

3 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be in4 valid, the remainder of this Act, or the application of such

5 provision to persons or circumstances other than those as

6 to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.

7 SEC. 404. FAST FLUX TEST FACILITY.

8 Any spent nuclear fuel associated with the Fast Flux

9 Test Facility at the Hanford Reservation shall be trans10 ported and stored at the repository site as soon as prac11 ticable after the Commission has authorized the construc12 tion of the repository.

Passed the Senate February 10, 2000.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1287

AN ACT

To provide for the storage of spent nuclear fuel

pending completion of the nuclear waste repository, and for other purposes.