I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10227 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program for the interim 

storage of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Ms. MATSUI (for herself and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

for the interim storage of high-level radioactive waste 

and spent nuclear fuel, 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 ‘‘Storage and Transpor5 tation Of Residual and Excess Nuclear Fuel Act of 2024’’, 

6 or the ‘‘STORE Nuclear Fuel Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERIM STORAGE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Nuclear Waste Pol3 icy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10121 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle I—Interim Storage 

6 ‘‘SEC. 190. DEFINITIONS. 

7 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

8 ‘‘(1) CONTRACT HOLDER.—The term ‘contract 

9 holder’ means any person who— 

10 ‘‘(A) generates or holds title to spent nu11 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste gen12 erated at a civilian nuclear power reactor; and 

13 ‘‘(B) has entered into a contract for the 

14 disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra15 dioactive waste under section 302(a). 

16 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY DELIVERY.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘emergency 

18 delivery’ means spent nuclear fuel and high19 level radioactive waste accepted by the Sec20 retary for storage prior to the date provided in 

21 the contractual delivery commitment schedule of 

22 the standard contract for disposal of spent nu23 clear fuel and radioactive waste pursuant to 

24 section 302(a). 

25 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘emergency 

26 delivery’ may include, at the discretion of the 


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1 Secretary, spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra2 dioactive waste generated by an atomic energy 

3 defense activity that is required to be removed 

4 from a Department of Energy facility— 

5 ‘‘(i) pursuant to a compliance agree6 ment; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) to eliminate an imminent and se8 rious threat to the health and safety of the 

9 public or the common defense and security. 

10 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY WASTE.—The term ‘priority 

11 waste’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) any emergency delivery; and 

13 ‘‘(B) spent nuclear fuel or high-level radio14 active waste from a civilian nuclear power reac15 tor that has been permanently shut down. 

16 ‘‘(4) STORAGE FACILITY.—The term ‘storage 

17 facility’ means a facility for the consolidated storage 

18 of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste 

19 from multiple contract holders or the Secretary 

20 pending the disposal of the spent nuclear fuel and 

21 high-level radioactive waste in a repository. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 191. PROGRAM FOR STORAGE FACILITIES. 

23 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

24 shall establish a program under which the Secretary 

25 may— 


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1 ‘‘(1) site, construct, and operate one or more 

2 storage facilities licensed by the Commission under 

3 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; and 

4 ‘‘(2) store, pursuant to a storage contract, high5 level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel at a 

6 storage facility for which a non-Federal entity holds 

7 a license issued by the Commission under such Act. 

8 ‘‘(b) INTERIM STORAGE AGREEMENTS AUTHOR9 IZED.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 

11 into an agreement with any contract holder for ac12 ceptance of title pursuant to section 302(a), subse13 quent transportation, and interim storage of high14 level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel (includ15 ing to expedite such acceptance of title, transpor16 tation, and storage of such waste or spent fuel from 

17 facilities that have ceased commercial operation) at 

18 a storage facility under this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY WASTE.—In entering into agree20 ments under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

21 prioritize acceptance of priority waste. 

22 ‘‘(c) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this subtitle, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Nov 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10227.IH H10227

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1 retary shall issue a request for proposals for storage 

2 authorized under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(2) GUIDELINES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The request for pro5 posals under paragraph (1) shall include gen6 eral guidelines for storage facilities consistent 

7 with each requirement of section 112(a) that 

8 the Secretary determines to be applicable to 

9 storage under this section. 

10 ‘‘(B) REVISIONS.—The Secretary may re11 vise the general guidelines as necessary, con12 sistent with this section. 

13 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF PROPOSALS.—The Secretary shall 

14 review each proposal submitted pursuant to subsection (c) 

15 to evaluate— 

16 ‘‘(1) the extent to which the applicable States, 

17 affected units of local government, and affected In18 dian tribes support the proposal; 

19 ‘‘(2) the likelihood that the proposed site for 

20 the storage facility is suitable for site evaluation 

21 under the guidelines included under subsection 

22 (c)(2); 

23 ‘‘(3) a reasonable comparative evaluation of the 

24 proposed site and other proposed sites; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the extent to which spent nuclear fuel and 

2 high-level radioactive waste are, or are planned to 

3 be, stored or disposed of within the State; 

4 ‘‘(5) the extent to which the proposal would— 

5 ‘‘(A) enhance the reliability and flexibility 

6 of the system for the disposal of spent nuclear 

7 fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including 

8 co-location with a proposed repository; and 

9 ‘‘(B) minimize the effects on the public of 

10 transportation and handling of spent nuclear 

11 fuel and high-level radioactive waste; 

12 ‘‘(6) potential conflicts with— 

13 ‘‘(A) any compliance agreement requiring 

14 removal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra15 dioactive waste from a site; or 

16 ‘‘(B) a statutory prohibition on the storage 

17 or disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 

18 radioactive waste at a site; and 

19 ‘‘(7) any other criteria, including criteria relat20 ing to technical or safety specifications, that the 

21 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(e) SITE SELECTION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF SUITABILITY.—After 

24 conducting a review under subsection (d) and any 

25 additional site investigation that the Secretary deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Nov 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10227.IH H10227

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1 mines to be appropriate, the Secretary shall deter2 mine whether a site is suitable for site evaluation 

3 under the guidelines included under subsection 

4 (c)(2). 

5 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF SITE FOR EVALUATION.— 

6 From the sites determined to be suitable for site 

7 evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

8 select at least 1 site for site evaluation, giving pri9 ority to sites that have been proposed to be co-lo10 cated with a repository, after— 

11 ‘‘(A) holding a public hearing in the vicin12 ity of each site; and 

13 ‘‘(B) notifying Congress. 

14 ‘‘(3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—On selection 

15 of a site for evaluation under paragraph (2), the 

16 Secretary may enter into a cooperative agreement 

17 with the State, affected units of local government, 

18 and affected Indian tribes, as applicable, that in19 cludes— 

20 ‘‘(A) terms of financial and technical as21 sistance to enable each applicable unit of gov22 ernment to monitor, review, evaluate, comment 

23 on, obtain information on, make recommenda24 tions on, and mitigate any effects from, site 

25 evaluation activities; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other term that the Secretary de2 termines to be appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(4) CONSENT-BASED APPROVAL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary deter5 mines, based on site evaluation under this sub6 section, that a site is suitable for developing a 

7 storage facility, the Secretary may select the 

8 site for developing such a facility if the Sec9 retary enters into a consent agreement with— 

10 ‘‘(i) the State in which the site is pro11 posed to be located; 

12 ‘‘(ii) each affected unit of local gov13 ernment; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) any affected Indian tribe. 

15 ‘‘(B) BINDING EFFECT.—A consent agree16 ment entered into under subparagraph (A)— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall be binding on the parties; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) shall not be amended or revoked 

20 except by mutual agreement of the par21 ties.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents for the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 

24 10101 note) is amended by adding after the item relating 

25 to section 180 the following: 

‘‘SUBTITLE I—INTERIM STORAGE 


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‘‘Sec. 190. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 191. Program for storage facilities.’’. 

1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON COLLECTION OF FEES. 

2 Section 302(a)(4) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 

3 of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(4)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(4) Not 

5 later than’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) COLLECTION AND PAYMENT OF FEES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON COLLECTION.—The 

10 Secretary may not collect a fee established 

11 under paragraph (2), including a fee established 

12 under paragraph (2) and adjusted pursuant to 

13 subparagraph (A), until the date on which the 

14 Commission issues a final decision approving or 

15 disapproving the issuance of a construction au16 thorization for a repository under section 

17 114(d).’’. 

18 SEC. 4. FUNDING. 

19 Section 302(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 

20 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(d)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

22 inserting a semicolon; 

23 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 

24 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(7) carrying out subtitle I of title I, other than 

4 consent agreements under section 191(e)(4), except 

5 that the Secretary may not expend for such purpose 

6 in a fiscal year amounts totaling more than 25 per7 cent of the interest generated by the Fund in such 

8 fiscal year; and 

9 ‘‘(8) consent agreements under section 

10 191(e)(4).’’. 

Æ 


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