II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1320 

To require the Secretary of Energy to offer to enter into temporary used 

fuel storage facility agreements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 30, 2011 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 

and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to offer to enter into 

temporary used fuel storage facility agreements. 

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 Fuel Storage 

5 Improvement Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 SEC. 3. INCENTIVES FOR SITING OF TEMPORARY USED 

4 FUEL STORAGE FACILITIES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘agreement’’ 

7 means a temporary used fuel storage facility agree8 ment entered into under subsection (e). 

9 (2) FIRST USED FUEL RECEIPT.—The term 

10 ‘‘first used fuel receipt’’ means the receipt of used 

11 fuel by a temporary used fuel storage facility at a 

12 site within the jurisdiction of a unit of local govern13 ment that is a party to an agreement. 

14 (3) NUCLEAR WASTE FUND.—The term ‘‘Nu15 clear Waste Fund’’ means the Nuclear Waste Fund 

16 established under section 302 of the Nuclear Waste 

17 Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222). 

18 (4) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means any borough, city, 

20 county, parish, town, township, village, or other gen21 eral purpose political subdivision of a State, or asso22 ciation of 2 or more political subdivisions of a State. 

23 (5) USED FUEL.—The term ‘‘used fuel’’ means 

24 nuclear fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear 

25 reactor following irradiation, the constituent eleVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:28 Jul 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1320.IS S1320

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1 ments of which have not been separated by reproc2 essing. 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall offer to 

4 enter into temporary used fuel storage facility agreements 

5 in accordance with this section. 

6 (c) NOTICE FROM UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

7 TO SECRETARY.—Not later than January 1, 2013, rep8 resentatives of a unit of local government, with the written 

9 approval of the Governor of the State in which the juris10 diction of the local government is located, may submit to 

11 the Secretary written notice that the unit of local govern12 ment is willing to have a privately owned and operated 

13 temporary used fuel storage facility located at an identi14 fied site within the jurisdiction of the unit of local govern15 ment. 

16 (d) PRELIMINARY COMPENSATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

18 payments of $1,000,000 each year to not more than 

19 3 units of local government that have submitted no20 tices under subsection (c). 

21 (2) MULTIPLE NOTICES.—If more than 3 no22 tices are received under subsection (c), the Secretary 

23 shall make payments to the first 3 units of local gov24 ernment, based on the order in which the notices are 

25 received. 


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1 (3) TIMING.—The payments shall be made an2 nually for a 3-year period, on the anniversary date 

3 of the filing of the notice under subsection (c). 

4 (e) AGREEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the docketing of an ap6 plication for a license for a temporary used fuel stor7 age facility, in accordance with part 72 of title 10, 

8 Code of Federal Regulations, at a site within the ju9 risdiction of a unit of local government by the Com10 mission, the Secretary shall offer to enter into a 

11 temporary used fuel storage facility economic impact 

12 agreement with the unit of local government. 

13 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An agreement 

14 between the Secretary and a unit of local govern15 ment under this subsection shall contain such terms 

16 and conditions (including such financial and institu17 tional arrangements) as the Secretary and the unit 

18 of local government determine to be reasonable and 

19 appropriate. 

20 (3) AMENDMENT.—An agreement may be— 

21 (A) amended only with the mutual consent 

22 of the parties to the agreement; and 

23 (B) terminated only in accordance with 

24 paragraph (4). 


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1 (4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall termi2 nate an agreement if the Secretary determines that 

3 any major element of the temporary used fuel stor4 age facility required under the agreement will not be 

5 completed. 

6 (5) NUMBER OF AGREEMENTS.—Not more than 

7 2 agreements may be in effect at any time. 

8 (6) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary enters 

10 into an agreement under this subsection, the 

11 Secretary shall make to the unit of local govern12 ment and the State in which the unit of local 

13 government is located— 

14 (i) payments of— 

15 (I) on the date of entering into 

16 the agreement under this subsection, 

17 $6,000,000; 

18 (II) during the period beginning 

19 on the date of entering into an agree20 ment and ending on the date of first 

21 used fuel receipt or denial of the li22 cense application for a temporary 

23 used fuel storage facility by the Com24 mission, whichever is later, 

25 $10,000,000 for each year; and 


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1 (III) during the period beginning 

2 on the date of first used fuel receipt 

3 and ending on the date of closure of 

4 the facility, a total of the higher of— 

5 (aa) $15,000,000 for each 

6 year; or 

7 (bb) $15,000 per metric ton 

8 of used fuel received at the facil9 ity for each year, up to a max10 imum of $25,000,000 for each 

11 year; and 

12 (ii) a payment of $20,000,000 on clo13 sure of the facility. 

14 (B) TIMING OF ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—The 

15 Secretary shall make annual payments under 

16 subparagraph (A)(i)— 

17 (i) in the case of annual payments de18 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), on the 

19 anniversary of the date of the docketing of 

20 the license application by the Commission; 

21 and 

22 (ii) in the case of annual payments 

23 described in subparagraph (A)(i)(III), on 

24 the date of the first used fuel receipt and 

25 thereafter on the anniversary date of the 


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1 first used fuel receipt, in lieu of annual 

2 payments described in subparagraph 

3 (A)(i)(II). 

4 (C) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Sub5 ject to subparagraph (A)(ii), the authority to 

6 make payments under this paragraph termi7 nates on the date of closure of the facility. 

8 (f) FUNDING.—Funding for compensation and pay9 ments provided for, and made under, this section shall be 

10 made available from amounts available in the Nuclear 

11 Waste Fund. 

12 SEC. 4. ACCEPTANCE, STORAGE, AND SETTLEMENT OF 

13 CLAIMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall offer to enter 

15 into a long-term contract for the storage of used fuel from 

16 civilian nuclear power plants with a private entity that 

17 owns or operates an independent used fuel storage facility 

18 licensed by the Commission that is located within the ju19 risdiction of a unit of local government to which payments 

20 are made pursuant to section 3(e). 

21 (b) SETTLEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF USED

22 FUEL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a party to 

24 a contract under section 302(a) of the Nuclear 

25 Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)), the 


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1 Secretary may enter into an agreement for the set2 tlement of all claims against the Secretary under a 

3 contract for failure to dispose of high-level radio4 active waste or used nuclear fuel not later than Jan5 uary 31, 1998. 

6 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A settlement 

7 agreement described in paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) shall contain such terms and condi9 tions (including such financial and institutional 

10 arrangements) as the Secretary and the party 

11 to the contract determine to be reasonable and 

12 appropriate; and 

13 (B) may include the acceptance of used 

14 fuel from the party to the contract for storage 

15 at a facility with respect to which the Secretary 

16 has a long-term contract under subsection (a). 

17 (c) PRIORITY FOR ACCEPTANCE FOR CLOSED FA18 CILITIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a request for fuel accept20 ance is made under this section by a facility that has 

21 produced used nuclear fuel and that is shut down 

22 permanently and the facility has been decommis23 sioned, the Secretary shall provide priority for the 

24 acceptance of the fuel produced by the facility. 


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1 (2) SCHEDULE.—Spent nuclear fuel and high2 level radioactive waste generated by a facility in ex3 istence as of the date of enactment of this Act shall 

4 be offered a schedule in accordance with the priority 

5 established pursuant to Article IV.b.5 of the con6 tract entitled ‘‘Contract for Disposal of Spent Nu7 clear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste’’, as 

8 specified in section 961.11 of title 10, Code of Fed9 eral Regulations. 

10 (d) TRANSPORTATION OF USED FUEL.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

12 for the transportation of used fuel accepted by the 

13 Secretary under this section. 

14 (2) SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

16 procure all systems and components necessary 

17 to transport used fuel from facilities designated 

18 by contract holders to 1 or more storage facili19 ties under this section. 

20 (B) CASKS.—The Secretary shall— 

21 (i) use transportation and storage 

22 casks that are approved by the Commis23 sion in use at facilities designated by con24 tract holders; and 


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1 (ii) compensate the owner and oper2 ator of each facility for the use of the 

3 casks. 

Æ 


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