I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4887

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

of the Secretary of Energy to provide for the safe disposal of spent

nuclear fuel beginning not later than January 31, 1998, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1994

Mr. GRAMS 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 reaffirm

the obligation of the Secretary of Energy to provide

for the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel beginning

not later than January 31, 1998, 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 ‘‘Spent Nuclear Fuel

5 Disposal Assurance Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds

8 that—
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1 (1) the generation of electricity by nuclear pow2 ered reactors results in the production of spent nu3 clear fuel;

4 (2) about 24,000 metric tons of spent nuclear

5 fuel have been produced by the Nation’s operating

6 nuclear power plants, and an additional 50,000 met7 ric tons of spent nuclear fuel is expected to be pro8 duced during the terms of their current licenses;

9 (3) the vast majority of commercial spent nu10 clear fuel is currently stored in individual water11 filled pools at reactor sites throughout the Nation;

12 (4) these storage pools for the temporary stor13 age of spent nuclear fuel are nearing capacity at

14 many of the reactor sites;

15 (5) since the beginning of the commercial nu16 clear power industry in the 1960’s, the Federal Gov17 ernment has had the responsibility to provide for the

18 disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel;

19 (6) the Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste

20 Policy Act of 1982 in order to codify the Federal re21 sponsibility and policy to provide for the safe and

22 timely disposal of spent nuclear fuel by establishing

23 a schedule for the siting, construction, and operation

24 of deep geologic repositories, assigning the respon25 sibility for implementation of the program to the De-
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1 partment of Energy, and establishing the Nuclear

2 Waste Fund to cover the costs of the Federal dis3 posal program to be paid by utility ratepayers and

4 owners;

5 (7) since the enactment of the Nuclear Waste

6 Policy Act of 1982, utility ratepayers and owners

7 have paid more than $9,700,000,000 into the Nu8 clear Waste Fund;

9 (8) under the schedule established in the Nu10 clear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Department of

11 Energy, in return for the payment of the fees by

12 utility ratepayers and owners, is directed to dispose

13 of spent nuclear fuel beginning not later than Janu14 ary 31, 1998;

15 (9) despite the 12 years that have passed since

16 the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

17 1982 and the expenditure of $3,800,000,000 to

18 date, the Department of Energy has fallen behind

19 schedule and the projected date for commencement

20 of operations of a repository, under optimistic as21 sumptions, is 2010;

22 (10) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 cur23 rently prohibits the selection of a site for a mon24 itored retrievable storage facility until a site for a

25 permanent repository has been selected; and
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1 (11) the Department of Energy, under the

2 terms of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, has

3 an absolute obligation to accept spent nuclear fuel

4 beginning not later than January 31, 1998.

5 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this

6 Act is—

7 (1) to ensure that the Department of Energy

8 fulfills its responsibility to site, construct, and oper9 ate temporary and permanent nuclear waste disposal

10 facilities in a safe and timely manner; and

11 (2) to reaffirm the obligation of the Secretary

12 of Energy under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of

13 1982 to provide for the safe disposal of spent nu14 clear fuel beginning not later than January 31,

15 1998.

16 SEC. 3. REAFFIRMATION OF OBLIGATION OF SECRETARY

17 OF ENERGY.

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

19 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) is amended by adding at the

20 end the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(7) The obligation of the Secretary under paragraph

22 (5) to accept high-level radioactive waste and spent nu23 clear fuel beginning not later than January 31, 1998, is

24 absolute and is not dependent on the commencement of

25 operations of a repository or a monitored retrievable stor-
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1 age facility. Such obligation shall not be voided or delayed

2 for any reason.’’.

3 SEC. 4. SITING OF MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE FA4 CILITY.

5 (a) REPEAL OF SITE SELECTION LIMITATION.—Sec6 tion 145 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

7 U.S.C. 10165) is amended by striking subsection (b).

8 (b) REPEAL OF LICENSING CONDITIONS.—Section

9 148 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C.

10 10168) is amended by striking subsection (d).

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