I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5061

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to clarify the obligation

of the Federal Government to take possession of and title to highlevel radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and provide for its timely

and safe transportation, storage, and disposal, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 20, 1994

Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BARCIA of Michigan, Mr.

EHLERS, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. UPTON, Mr. MINGE and Mr.

HILLIARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly, to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to clarify

the obligation of the Federal Government to take possession of and title to high-level radioactive waste and spent

nuclear fuel and provide for its timely and safe transportation, storage, and disposal, 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 ‘‘Federal Integrated

5 Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Management Act of

6 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds

3 the following:

4 (1) The transportation, storage, and disposal of

5 high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is

6 a matter of national urgency that is the responsibil7 ity of this generation.

8 (2) The utility generators and owners of high9 level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, to10 gether with their customers, have met, and will con11 tinue to meet, their obligations under the Nuclear

12 Waste Policy Act of 1982 to provide for the cost of

13 siting, licensing, construction, and operation of a

14 Federal waste management system.

15 (3) Some utilities have now exhausted their

16 spent nuclear fuel pool storage capacity, a total of

17 26 nuclear power reactors will reach their spent nu18 clear fuel pool storage capacity by the end of 1998,

19 and approximately 80 nuclear power reactors will be

20 without spent nuclear fuel pool storage capacity by

21 2010. As a result, utility rate payers face significant

22 costs associated with expanding storage capacity at

23 reactor sites, and continued delay is unacceptable.

24 (4) Federal efforts to site, license, construct,

25 and operate disposal facilities in accordance with the

26 provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
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1 have not met the timetables contemplated by such

2 Act.

3 (5) The Secretary of Energy has a clear and

4 unconditional obligation to take possession of and

5 title to high-level radioactive waste and spent nu6 clear fuel beginning not later than January 31,

7 1998.

8 (6) Notwithstanding the passage of 12 years

9 since enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

10 1982, the payment of more than $8,400,000,000

11 into the Nuclear Waste Fund during such period,

12 and the additional programmatic direction provided

13 by the Congress in the 1987 amendments to such

14 Act, the projected date of commencement of oper15 ations at a repository is, under the most optimistic

16 of assumptions, 2010.

17 (7) Until a repository is operational, interim

18 storage will continue to be required for high-level ra19 dioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

20 (8) In light of the obligation of the Secretary of

21 Energy to accept high-level radioactive waste and

22 spent nuclear fuel beginning not later than January

23 31, 1998, the Secretary must establish an interim

24 storage facility for such waste and spent fuel by

25 such date.
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1 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSES.—The purposes of

2 this Act are the following:

3 (1) To specify with certainty the obligation of

4 the Federal Government to take possession of and

5 title to high-level radioactive waste and spent nu6 clear fuel and provide for its timely and safe trans7 portation, storage, and disposal.

8 (2) To provide the Secretary of Energy with ad9 ditional incentives and means for succeeding in the

10 siting, licensing, construction, and operation of Fed11 eral facilities for the storage and disposal of high12 level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

13 (3) To require the Secretary of Energy to es14 tablish an interim storage facility for high-level ra15 dioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel of domestic

16 origin by January 31, 1998, for the purpose of ful17 filling the obligation of the Federal Government

18 under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL OBLIGATION TO TAKE POSSESSION OF

20 AND TITLE TO HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE

21 WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.

22 Section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

23 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) is amended by adding at the

24 end the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(7)(A)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of

2 this Act or other law, the terms of the contracts entered

3 into pursuant to this section, or the commencement of op4 erations of a repository, the Secretary shall, by not later

5 than January 31, 1998, begin taking possession and pro6 viding for the removal from existing storage facilities of

7 the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel cov8 ered by such contracts.

9 ‘‘(ii) A means of fulfilling the obligation set forth in

10 clause (i) shall be the Federal Integrated Spent Fuel and

11 High-Level Waste Management Program established in

12 section 162.

13 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall take possession and provide

14 for the removal of the high-level radioactive waste and

15 spent nuclear fuel referred to in subparagraph (A) in ac16 cordance with the acceptance priority ranking as required

17 by the contracts entered into pursuant to this section.

18 ‘‘(C) As any high-level radioactive waste or spent nu19 clear fuel referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) comes

20 into the possession of, and is removed by, the Secretary,

21 title to such waste or spent fuel shall transfer to the

22 Secretary.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL INTEGRATED SPENT FUEL AND HIGH2 LEVEL WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title I of the Nuclear

4 Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10172 et seq.) is

5 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘FEDERAL INTEGRATED SPENT FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL

7 WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

8 ‘‘SEC. 162. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary

9 shall establish and administer in accordance with this sec10 tion a Federal Integrated Spent Fuel and High-Level

11 Waste Management Program as a means of fulfilling, in

12 a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner, the responsibil13 ity of the Federal Government to take possession and pro14 vide for the removal from existing storage facilities of, and

15 take title to, high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear

16 fuel as provided in section 302(a)(7), and to provide for

17 the management of high-level radioactive waste and spent

18 nuclear fuel in accordance with subsection (b).

19 ‘‘(b) COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM.—The Federal Inte20 grated Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Management

21 Program shall include the following components:

22 ‘‘(1) Development and use of a multipurpose

23 canister system or systems for the transportation,

24 storage, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

25 ‘‘(2) Development of the transportation infra26 structure required to carry out the storage and dis-
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1 posal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nu2 clear fuel in accordance with the Program.

3 ‘‘(3) Establishment of an interim storage facil4 ity for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear

5 fuel, consistent with applicable licensing and envi6 ronmental protection requirements, by not later than

7 January 31, 1998.

8 ‘‘(4) Disposal of high-level radioactive waste

9 and spent nuclear fuel in a repository developed

10 under this Act.

11 ‘‘(c) PROGRESS REPORTS.—The Secretary shall sub12 mit to the Congress, not later than 120 days after the

13 date of the enactment of this section and annually there14 after, a comprehensive progress report with specific details

15 of how the Secretary is implementing the Federal Inte16 grated Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Management

17 Program. Each report shall also include a list of rec18 ommendations for the continued successful implementa19 tion of the Program and any proposed implementing legis20 lation. Prior to submission of any such report, the Sec21 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of

22 the availability of a draft of the report, and shall solicit

23 comments from interested parties.’’.

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