I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2926

To provide for interagency planning for preparing for, defending against, 

and responding to the consequences of terrorist attacks against the 

Yucca Mountain Project, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Ms. BERKLEY (for herself, Mr. GIBBONS, and Mr. PORTER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide for interagency planning for preparing for, defending against, and responding to the consequences of 

terrorist attacks against the Yucca Mountain Project, 

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 Ter5 rorist Threat Assessment and Protection Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The September 11 terrorist attacks in New 

4 York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania 

5 were the deadliest and costliest terrorist attacks 

6 against the United States in its history, resulting in 

7 the deaths of over 3,000 people at the World Trade 

8 Center, Pentagon, and Pennsylvania crash site. 

9 (2) The economic and cleanup costs as a result 

10 of the September 11 terrorist attacks are estimated 

11 at $1,000,000,000 in New York City alone. 

12 (3) The attacks have resulted in massive eco13 nomic disruption to the United States. The New 

14 York Stock Exchange’s Dow Jones Industrial Aver15 age dropped over 12 percent and the NASDAQ mar16 ket dropped 11.7 percent within the first 2 weeks 

17 after the attacks. 

18 (4) The September 11 attacks represent a dra19 matic expansion in the ability of terrorists to inflict 

20 massive damage, including the wide-scale loss of 

21 human life and economic disruption to the United 

22 States and the world. 

23 (5) Terrorists are willing to use any and all 

24 methods to bring about their desire to destroy 

25 human life and property. 
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1 (6) The terrorists who attacked the United 

2 States have demonstrated their willingness and de3 sire to target innocent civilians. 

4 (7) Terrorists can be expected to continue to 

5 improve their destructive capabilities. Their net6 works have become more sophisticated and resource7 ful in carrying out heinous acts of destruction. 

8 (8) Since its inception in March 2002, the 

9 threat alert has consistently been at an ‘‘elevated’’ 

10 level, reaching a level of ‘‘high’’ 4 times. 

11 (9) To counter this threat, the United States 

12 should take every reasonable step, consistent with 

13 the principles upon which this country was founded, 

14 to restrict terrorists’ ability to inflict damage against 

15 the United States. 

16 (10) Instead of making the United States safer, 

17 the proposed Yucca Mountain Project, as currently 

18 designed, would give terrorists an obvious huge, 

19 easy-to-attack target that, at any point, could cause 

20 massive economic and civilian casualties within the 

21 United States. 

22 (11) The Yucca Mountain Project proposes to 

23 ship 77,000 tons of deadly high-level radioactive nu24 clear waste throughout the United States over the 

25 next 30 to 40 years. High-level radioactive nuclear 
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1 waste is one of the most toxic substances known to 

2 mankind. 

3 (12) While there is concern about the potential 

4 terrorist attacks directed against spent fuel stored at 

5 nuclear facilities, exponentially more radioactive 

6 waste would be stored, including potentially above 

7 ground, at Yucca Mountain, than at any existing nu8 clear facility, making Yucca Mountain an inviting 

9 target for terrorism. 

10 (13) The waste would be transported by rail 

11 and by truck through at least 43 States, through 

12 hundreds of cities and towns, and through more 

13 than 360 congressional districts. 

14 (14) Findings of the Nevada State Nuclear 

15 Projects Agency demonstrate that a July 18, 2001, 

16 train accident in a Baltimore tunnel created a fire 

17 situation that would have been hot enough to breach 

18 a nuclear waste cask and release a cloud of sus19 pended radioactive particles. Such findings conclude 

20 that this type of contamination would spread over 

21 33 square miles, cost more than $13,000,000,000 to 

22 clean up, and cause up to 31,824 cancer-related 

23 deaths. 

24 (15) At almost every stage of the Yucca Moun25 tain Project, high-level radioactive nuclear waste
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1 would be very vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Terror2 ists could attack or steal the waste as it travels on 

3 our roads, highways, railways, or waterways, as it 

4 is stored or moved at intermodal storage facilities 

5 or storage depots, or at the proposed repository 

6 itself. 

7 (16) The United States Government, in at8 tempting to implement the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 

9 of 1982, has not sufficiently addressed the threat of 

10 terrorist attacks. 

11 (17) The Department of Energy has failed to 

12 address the Yucca Mountain Project’s vulnerability 

13 to terrorism and sabotage, intrusions, trespassing, 

14 vandalism, arson, and bomb-related incidents, as ex15 pressed by the State of Nevada and independent re16 searchers throughout the country. As a result, the 

17 Department of Energy has failed to discuss or pro18 vide any plan for prevention and response to ter19 rorist attacks directed at Yucca Mountain. 

20 (18) The Department of Energy’s current 

21 methodology for assessing risks seriously underesti22 mates those associated with sabotage and terrorism 

23 against radioactive shipments, waste stored at inter24 modal storage facilities or storage depots, and at 

25 Yucca Mountain itself. 
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1 (19) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the 

2 agency in charge of protecting public health and 

3 safety and the environment from the harmful effects 

4 of nuclear waste, has not revised its rules regarding 

5 the transportation of nuclear waste since the early 

6 1970s. The antiquated rules do not address modern7 day threats and weapons, nor the increased risk 

8 posed by today’s most violent and maniacal terror9 ists. 

10 SEC. 3. YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT VULNERABILITY AND 

11 DEFENSE PLAN. 

12 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate 

13 the development and implementation of an interagency 

14 plan, in conjunction with appropriate Federal, State, and 

15 local agencies and with public input, to prepare for and 

16 defend against Federal crimes of terrorism targeting any 

17 aspect of the Yucca Mountain Project. The interagency 

18 plan shall—

19 (1) include a comprehensive analysis of the 

20 safety and vulnerability to Federal crimes of ter21 rorism of the Yucca Mountain Project; 

22 (2) address attacks against—

23 (A) rail, truck, and barge shipments of nu24 clear waste; 
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1 (B) facilities, equipment, infrastructure, 

2 and vehicles used for such shipments of nuclear 

3 waste; 

4 (C) personnel working for the Yucca 

5 Mountain Project; 

6 (D) all intermediary, staging, transfer, 

7 intermodal, and temporary storage facilities 

8 used for shipping nuclear waste to the Yucca 

9 Mountain repository; 

10 (E) Yucca Mountain repository facilities, 

11 vehicles, and equipment; 

12 (F) all water and power systems used by 

13 the Yucca Mountain Project; and 

14 (G) nuclear waste containers for transpor15 tation, transfer, or storage; 

16 (3) give special emphasis to addressing—

17 (A) the use of nuclear waste as a radio18 logical weapon; 

19 (B) the use of high-energy explosives, anti20 tank missiles, armor-piercing technologies, and 

21 other sophisticated technologies; and 

22 (C) sabotage or theft of high-level nuclear 

23 waste; 
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1 (4) include a comprehensive strategy for de2 fending the Yucca Mountain Project against all Fed3 eral crimes of terrorism, which shall address—

4 (A) vulnerabilities analyzed under para5 graph (1); 

6 (B) the defense of the Yucca Mountain 

7 Project against air and ground assaults, truck 

8 bombs, attacks using sophisticated armor-pierc9 ing technologies, suicide attacks, and other po10 tential military-style attacks; 

11 (C) credible worst-case assumptions about 

12 the timing and location of potential attacks; 

13 (D) the effects of weather conditions dur14 ing and after attacks; 

15 (E) the use of expanded no-fly zones, and 

16 the development of policy regarding infractions 

17 of a no-fly zone, over key areas involved in the 

18 Yucca Mountain Project, with emphasis paid to 

19 whether the size of the no-fly zone is sufficient 

20 to protect against an airborne attack, ways of 

21 defending against this type of attack, and 

22 whether there is ample time for our national de23 fense to defend against an infraction of the no24 fly zone;
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1 (F) the use of background and security 

2 checks of all personnel related to the transport 

3 of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain; 

4 (G) developing a uniform Federal standard 

5 for the use of deadly force to protect all aspects 

6 of the Yucca Mountain Project; and 

7 (H) specific rules of engagement for a po8 tential airborne attack; and 

9 (5) include an analysis of the economic, public 

10 health, and environmental costs and impacts of im11 plementing the interagency plan. 

12 SEC. 4. YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT TERRORISM CON13 SEQUENCE ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSE 

14 PLAN. 

15 The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in co16 ordination with appropriate Federal, State, and local 

17 agencies, shall coordinate the development and implemen18 tation of a comprehensive interagency plan to ensure that 

19 Federal, State, and local government response plans and 

20 programs can respond adequately to the consequences of 

21 Federal crimes of terrorism directed against any stage of 

22 the Yucca Mountain Project. The plan shall include—

23 (1) necessary preresponse preparations and 

24 evacuation plans for Federal, State, and local gov25 ernments; 
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1 (2) procedures for notifying State and local 

2 emergency response units when nuclear waste is 

3 transported through their local area; 

4 (3) an analysis and a comprehensive set of pro5 cedures to address the impacts of Federal crimes of 

6 terrorism that result in a release of radioactive ma7 terials including—

8 (A) immediate and long-term public health 

9 effects; 

10 (B) environmental impacts, broadly de11 fined; 

12 (C) direct socioeconomic impacts, including 

13 cleanup and disposal costs and opportunity 

14 costs, to affected individuals and businesses; 

15 and 

16 (D) indirect socioeconomic impacts, includ17 ing economic losses resulting from perceptions 

18 of risk and stigma effects; and 

19 (4) a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the 

20 economic, public health, and environmental effects of 

21 implementing the plan, including analysis of the re22 percussions and costs from a wide range of types of 

23 Federal crimes of terrorism. 
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1 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL REVIEW. 

2 The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Federal 

3 Emergency Management Agency shall enter into appro4 priate arrangements with the National Research Council 

5 for technical review of the plans developed under sections 

6 3 and 4, respectively. Such reviews shall—

7 (1) address the strengths and shortcomings of 

8 the analyses and preparations set forth in the plans; 

9 and 

10 (2) pay special attention to—

11 (A) the need for comprehensive and reli12 able physical testing, including full-scale-to-de13 struction and scale model testing, to evaluate 

14 weapons capabilities and limitations; 

15 (B) container vulnerability to high-energy 

16 explosive devices, and the effects on nuclear 

17 waste; and 

18 (C) the appropriateness of existing com19 puter models for evaluating near-site environ20 mental dispersion of released radionuclides, re21 sulting health effects, and cleanup and disposal 

22 requirements. 

23 SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RECOMMENDATION. 

24 The Secretary of Energy shall not submit a license 

25 application under section 114(b) of the Nuclear Waste 

26 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(b)), and the Nuclear 
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1 Regulatory Commission shall not issue any license for a 

2 repository at Yucca Mountain under section 114(d) of the 

3 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10134(d)), 

4 unless—

5 (1) the interagency plans required under sec6 tions 3 and 4 are completed and included in the 

7 final environmental impact statement for Yucca 

8 Mountain, and all rules and recommendations imple9 mented completely; 

10 (2) public hearings have been held for all af11 fected populations; 

12 (3) the Secretary has certified that all facets of 

13 the Yucca Mountain Project are not vulnerable to 

14 Federal crimes of terrorism; and 

15 (4) the Secretary of Homeland Security has 

16 prepared and transmitted to the Congress a report 

17 on the potential liability costs and damages resulting 

18 from a wide range of Federal crimes of terrorism 

19 against the Yucca Mountain Project. 

20 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

21 For purposes of this Act—

22 (1) the term ‘‘Federal crime of terrorism’’ has 

23 the meaning given that term in section 2332b(g)(5) 

24 of title 18, United States Code; and 
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1 (2) the term ‘‘Yucca Mountain Project’’ means 

2 all aspects of the high-level nuclear waste repository 

3 currently being studied at Yucca Mountain. The 

4 term includes all Department of Energy transpor5 tation plans, interim storage facilities, intermodal 

6 transfer facilities, repositories, and any other site 

7 where high-level waste will be handled in relation to 

8 the Yucca Mountain Project.

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