II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1478

To facilitate the ability of a private consortium to site, design, license, construct, operate, and decommission a private facility for the interim storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel, subject to licensing by the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, to authorize the Secretary of Energy to contract

with the consortium for storage services, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 14, 1995

Mr. GRAMS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To facilitate the ability of a private consortium to site, design, license, construct, operate, and decommission a private facility for the interim storage of commercial spent

nuclear fuel, subject to licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to authorize the Secretary of Energy

to contract with the consortium for storage services, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Private Interim Storage Facility Authorizing Act of

4 1995’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. Authorization and siting of private interim storage facility.

Sec. 5. Funding of private interim storage facility.

Sec. 6. Design of private interim storage facility.

Sec. 7. Activities of the Secretary.

Sec. 7. Activities of the Commission.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

9 (1) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

10 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) directed the Secretary of En11 ergy to enter into disposal contracts with persons

12 that generate or hold title to high-level radioactive

13 waste or commercial spent nuclear fuel of domestic

14 origin specifying the terms and conditions under

15 which the Secretary would accept title to, transport,

16 and dispose of the waste or spent fuel;

17 (2) under the terms of that Act and those dis18 posal contracts, the Secretary has an unconditional

19 obligation to begin taking title to, possession of, and

20 delivery of commercial spent nuclear fuel for pur21 poses of interim storage and permanent disposal, be22 ginning not later than January 31, 1998;
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1 (3) the Nation’s domestic utilities have consist2 ently met their fee obligations under the disposal

3 contracts, paying, with interest, over

4 $10,000,000,000 into the Waste Fund;

5 (4) the Secretary’s most recent estimate of the

6 date for beginning operations at a repository is

7 2010;

8 (5) the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

9 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) links the schedule for siting,

10 development, licensing and operation of a monitored

11 retrievable storage facility to the schedule for devel12 opment of a repository, making it impossible for the

13 Secretary to begin operation of a monitored retriev14 able storage facility by 1998;

15 (6) private initiatives to develop an interim

16 storage facility for commercial spent nuclear fuel

17 away from a reactor site have not been successful to

18 date, primarily because of siting restrictions;

19 (7) if a repository is ultimately developed at the

20 Yucca Mountain site, the location of an interim stor21 age facility in close proximity to the site of the re22 pository would benefit the civilian radioactive waste

23 management system by, among other things—

24 (A) reducing overall systemwide costs to

25 both the Government and the utility industry;
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1 (B) increasing the efficiency of system op2 erations;

3 (C) reducing transportation impacts; and

4 (D) providing lag storage for the reposi5 tory;

6 (8) if the repository is not ultimately developed

7 at the Yucca Mountain site, the location of an in8 terim storage facility in Nevada would still be bene9 ficial to the civilian radioactive waste management

10 system; and

11 (9) while commercial spent nuclear fuel can be

12 safely stored at reactor sites, the expeditious move13 ment to and storage of commercial spent nuclear

14 fuel at a centralized facility will enhance the Na15 tion’s environmental protection.

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

17 (1) to facilitate the ability of a consortium to

18 site, design, license, construct, operate, and decom19 mission a facility for the storage of commercial

20 spent nuclear fuel and to establish procedures that

21 will facilitate the availability of such a facility by

22 1998;

23 (2) to authorize a consortium to designate a

24 site for the private interim storage facility within

25 Area 25 of the Nevada test site and provide for the
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1 withdrawal and reservation of the site for use by the

2 consortium under a lease agreement with the Sec3 retary;

4 (3) to provide a means by which the Secretary

5 may fulfill the Secretary’s obligation to begin accept6 ing commercial spent nuclear fuel by not later than

7 January 31, 1998; and

8 (4) to require the Secretary to contract to use

9 the private interim storage facility, in the same man10 ner as a private entity, for the storage of commercial

11 spent nuclear fuel.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

14 (1) AREA 25.—The term ‘‘Area 25’’ means the

15 specific area within the Nevada Test Site that is

16 designated by the Secretary and withdrawn and re17 served in accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy

18 Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) for the loca19 tion of an interim storage facility.

20 (2) COMMERCIAL SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.—The

21 term ‘‘commercial spent nuclear fuel’’ means fuel

22 that has been withdrawn from a commercial nuclear

23 reactor following irradiation, the constituent ele24 ments of which have not been separated by reproc25 essing.
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1 (3) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

2 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

3 (4) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘consortium’’

4 means a consortium, composed of domestically

5 owned and controlled private and public utility com6 panies, and other domestically owned and controlled

7 private entities, that is formed for the purpose of de8 veloping a private interim storage facility under this

9 Act, with which the secretary enters into a lease

10 agreement under section 4.

11 (5) DISPOSAL CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘disposal

12 contract’’ means a contract executed under section

13 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

14 U.S.C. 10222), between the Secretary and any per15 son that generates or holds title to high-level radio16 active waste or commercial spent nuclear fuel of do17 mestic origin, providing for the acceptance of title to

18 and disposal of waste or fuel by the Secretary and

19 the payment of fees to offset the Secretary’s expend20 itures.

21 (6) DISPOSAL CONTRACT HOLDER.—The term

22 ‘‘disposal contract holder’’ means a party to a dis23 posal contract other than the Secretary.

24 (7) LEASE PERIOD.—The term ‘‘lease period’’

25 means the period during which a private interim
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1 storage facility site is leased by the Secretary to the

2 consortium, including the period of any renewal of

3 the lease.

4 (8) PRIVATE INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.—

5 The term ‘‘private interim storage facility’’ means a

6 facility designed and constructed by a consortium

7 for the receipt, handling, possession, safeguarding,

8 and storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel in ac9 cordance with this Act.

10 (9) PRIVATE INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY

11 SITE.—The term ‘‘private interim storage facility

12 site’’ means the specific site within Area 25 that is

13 designated by the consortium and withdrawn and re14 served in accordance with section 4 for the location

15 of the private interim storage facility.

16 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

17 means the Secretary of Energy.

18 (11) SITE CHARACTERIZATION.—The term ‘‘site

19 characterization’’ has the meaning stated in section

20 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42

21 U.S.C. 10101).

22 (12) STORAGE.—The term ‘‘storage’’ means re23 tention of commercial spent nuclear fuel with the in24 tent to recover the fuel for subsequent use, process25 ing, or disposal.
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1 (13) WASTE FUND.—The term ‘‘Waste Fund’’

2 means the Nuclear Waste Fund established in the

3 United States Treasury by section 302 of the Nu4 clear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222).

5 (14) WITHDRAWAL.—The term ‘‘withdrawal’’

6 has the meaning stated in section 103 of the Federal

7 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

8 U.S.C. 1702).

9 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION AND SITING OF PRIVATE INTERIM

10 STORAGE FACILITY.

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The consortium may site,

13 design, license, construct, operate, and decommission

14 a private interim storage facility for the interim

15 storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel.

16 (2) DESIGNATION, WITHDRAWAL, RESERVA17 TION, AND LEASE.—The private interim storage fa18 cility site shall be designated by the consortium in

19 accordance with subsection (b), withdrawn and re20 served for development and operation of the facility

21 in accordance with subsection (c), and leased by the

22 Secretary to the consortium in accordance with sub23 section (d).

24 (3) LICENSE.—On application by the consor25 tium, the private interim storage facility shall be li-
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1 censed by the Commission in accordance with its

2 regulations governing the licensing of independent

3 spent fuel storage installations, as modified in ac4 cordance with section 8.

5 (b) DESIGNATION OF PRIVATE INTERIM STORAGE

6 FACILITY SITE.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The consortium may des8 ignate a site for the private interim storage facility

9 within Area 25.

10 (2) CONSULTATION.—Prior to designating a

11 site under paragraph (1), the consortium may con12 sult with the Secretary, the Secretary of the Inte13 rior, or the Secretary of Defense, who shall assist

14 the consortium to the extent practicable, including

15 providing the consortium with any unclassified envi16 ronmental data or other information concerning the

17 site that is available to the Secretary, the Secretary

18 of the Interior, or the Secretary of Defense, respec19 tively.

20 (4) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—On des21 ignation of a site under paragraph (1), the consor22 tium shall transmit to the Secretary a map depicting

23 the boundaries of the site entitled ‘‘Private Interim

24 Storage Facility Site Withdrawal Map’’, and a legal
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1 description of the private interim storage facility

2 site.

3 (5) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries depicted on

4 the map transmitted under paragraph (4) are estab5 lished as the boundaries of the private interim stor6 age facility site.

7 (6) PUBLICATION AND FILING.—No later than

8 30 days following the designation of the private in9 terim storage facility site by the consortium and the

10 receipt of the map from the consortium under para11 graph (2), the Secretary shall—

12 (A) publish in the Federal Register a no13 tice containing a legal description of the private

14 interim storage facility site; and

15 (B) file copies of the map and the legal de16 scription of the private interim storage facility

17 site with Congress, the Secretary of the Inte18 rior, the Governor of Nevada, and the Archivist

19 of the United States.

20 (7) LEGAL EFFECT.—The map and legal de21 scription of the private interim storage facility site

22 described in this subsection shall have the same

23 force and effect as if they were included in this Act.
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1 (8) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may correct

2 clerical and typographical errors in the maps and

3 legal descriptions.

4 (c) WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.—

5 (1) WITHDRAWAL.—The private interim storage

6 facility site is withdrawn from all forms of entry, ap7 propriation, and disposal under the public land laws,

8 including the mineral leasing laws, the geothermal

9 leasing laws, the material sale laws, and the mining

10 laws.

11 (2) TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION.—Jurisdiction

12 over any land within the private interim storage fa13 cility site managed by the Secretary of the Interior,

14 the Secretary of Defense, or any other Federal offi15 cer is transferred to the Secretary.

16 (3) RESERVATION.—The private interim stor17 age facility site is reserved for the construction and

18 operation of the private interim storage facility and

19 activities associated with the purposes of this Act by

20 the consortium, acting under a lease agreement with

21 the Secretary.

22 (d) LEASE AGREEMENT.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days fol24 lowing withdrawal and reservation of the private in25 terim storage facility site, the Secretary shall exe-
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1 cute a lease agreement with the consortium estab2 lishing terms and conditions under which the Sec3 retary shall lease the private interim storage facility

4 site to the consortium.

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The lease agreement shall in6 clude the following terms and conditions:

7 (A) LEASE FEE.—The consortium shall

8 not pay a lease fee.

9 (B) OWNERSHIP OF FACILITY.—The pri10 vate interim storage facility shall be owned by

11 the consortium, but the consortium shall trans12 fer title to the Secretary at no cost—

13 (i) prior to conclusion of the oper14 ational period; or

15 (ii) prior to decommissioning,

16 at the option of the consortium.

17 (C) LEASE PERIOD.—The lease period

18 shall commence on execution of the lease agree19 ment and shall terminate on the date on which

20 title is transferred under subparagraph (B).

21 (D) ACTIVITIES.—The consortium shall be

22 authorized to conduct specified activities at the

23 private interim storage facility site, including

24 the design, licensing, construction, operation,

25 and decommissioning of the private interim
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1 storage facility and related activities, with the

2 scope of activities to be determined by the con3 sortium.

4 (3) EFFECT.—The Secretary’s execution of the

5 lease agreement shall not—

6 (A) convert the private interim storage fa7 cility into a governmental facility; or

8 (B) convert the consortium, or its contrac9 tors or subcontractors, into government con10 tractors or subcontractors.

11 SEC. 5. FUNDING OF PRIVATE INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.

12 (a) SOURCE OF FUNDING.—The Waste Fund shall

13 be the source of funding for actions by the consortium

14 with respect to the siting, design, licensing, construction,

15 operation, and decommissioning of the private interim

16 storage facility.

17 (b) FUNDING AGREEMENT.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days fol19 lowing designation of a private interim storage facil20 ity site, the Secretary shall execute a funding agree21 ment with the consortium that establishes terms and

22 conditions for the transfer of funds to the consor23 tium from the Waste Fund to reimburse the consor24 tium for all reasonable costs incurred in connection

25 with the site characterization and designation of the
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1 private interim storage facility site, and the design,

2 licensing, construction, operation, and decommission3 ing of the private interim storage facility during the

4 lease period.

5 (2) INCORPORATION INTO LEASE AGREE6 MENT.—The funding agreement may be incor7 porated into the lease agreement under section 4(d).

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, out

10 of the Waste Fund, for carrying out this Act, such sums

11 as are necessary to pay the reasonable costs described in

12 subsection (b)(1).

13 SEC. 6. DESIGN OF PRIVATE INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY.

14 (a) CRITERIA.—In designing the private interim stor15 age facility, the consortium shall, to the extent practicable,

16 satisfy the following criteria:

17 (1) STORAGE CAPACITY.—The private interim

18 storage facility shall have a storage capacity of not

19 less than 40,000 metric tons of commercial spent

20 nuclear fuel, which capacity shall be expanded as

21 necessary if the receipt of spent nuclear fuel at the

22 repository is delayed beyond 2010.

23 (2) CANISTER SYSTEMS.—The design shall pro24 vide for the use of such storage technologies as are
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1 licensed or certified by the Commission for use at

2 the private interim storage facility.

3 (b) TEMPORARY USE OF FACILITIES.—The design of

4 the private interim storage facility may provide for the

5 temporary use, as necessary, of any facility owned by the

6 Government on the date of enactment of this Act and

7 within the boundaries of the private interim storage facil8 ity site, regardless of whether the facility is licensed by

9 the Commission, in connection with the storage, transpor10 tation, and handling of commercial spent nuclear fuel at

11 the private interim storage facility.

12 SEC. 7. ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY.

13 (a) COOPERATION WITH CONSORTIUM.—The Sec14 retary shall encourage efforts by the consortium to develop

15 a private interim storage facility for commercial spent nu16 clear fuel in accordance with this Act by, among other

17 things—

18 (1) providing any requested information, envi19 ronmental data, and assistance to the consortium;

20 and

21 (2) cooperating with the consortium to facilitate

22 compatibility between the private interim storage fa23 cility and the Secretary’s activities under the Nu24 clear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et

25 seq.).
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1 (b) OBLIGATION.—Development of the private in2 terim storage facility by the consortium shall not affect

3 the Secretary’s obligations under the Nuclear Waste Pol4 icy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), including the

5 Secretary’s obligation to characterize and site a perma6 nent waste facility.

7 (c) SERVICE AGREEMENT.—

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

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall offer to execute a service agreement with

11 the consortium for the storage of commercial spent

12 nuclear fuel and attendant services at the private in13 terim storage facility after the facility has been li14 censed by the Commission.

15 (2) EFFECT.—The Secretary’s execution of a

16 service agreement with the consortium shall not—

17 (A) convert the private interim storage fa18 cility into a Government facility or its owner or

19 lessee into a Government contractor or sub20 contractor;

21 (B) impose any obligation on the private

22 interim storage facility that is unique to con23 tracts with the Government; or

24 (C) impose any obligation on the Secretary

25 that would not apply to a private entity that
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1 contracts with the private interim storage facil2 ity, and specifically shall not—

3 (i) impose any requirement on the

4 Secretary under the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

6 4321 et seq.); or

7 (ii) subject the Secretary to Federal

8 laws (including regulations) governing the

9 Secretary’s procurement of goods or serv10 ices or the Secretary’s hiring, employment,

11 payment, or firing of personnel.

12 (3) FUNDING.—The Waste Fund shall be used

13 to fund the Secretary’s actions in executing the serv14 ice agreement and implementing the Secretary’s re15 sponsibilities under the service agreement, including

16 the acceptance of commercial spent nuclear fuel at

17 disposal contract holder sites and transportation of

18 the fuel to the private interim storage facility.

19 (d) TRANSPORTATION.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use any

21 available system, certified by the Commission, for

22 the transportation of commercial spent nuclear fuel

23 to the private interim storage facility.

24 (2) NECESSARY MEASURES.—Following with25 drawal and reservation of the private interim storage
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1 facility site under section 4, the Secretary shall take

2 such measures, consistent with the Secretary’s au3 thority under applicable law, as are necessary to en4 sure that the Secretary is able to—

5 (A) accept delivery of commercial spent

6 nuclear fuel at disposal contract holders’ sites;

7 and

8 (B) transport commercial spent nuclear

9 fuel to the private interim storage facility in

10 safe, cost-efficient, and effective manner.

11 SEC. 8. ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION.

12 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall

14 amend its regulations governing the licensing of independ15 ent spent fuel storage installations, as necessary, to pro16 vide for the licensing of the private interim storage facility

17 upon application by the consortium.

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The regulations under subsection

19 (a) shall incorporate the following provisions:

20 (1) LOCATION OF FACILITY.—The private in21 terim storage facility shall be located at the private

22 interim storage facility site, under a lease agreement

23 under section 4.

24 (2) STORAGE SERVICES.—The license shall au25 thorize the consortium to provide storage services to
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1 the Secretary under a service agreement under sec2 tion 7(c).

3 (3) TERM OF LICENSE.—The private interim

4 storage facility shall be licensed for the maximum

5 period consistent with applicable law, not to exceed

6 100 years.

7 (4) TEMPORARY USE.—If it is proposed in the

8 license application and facility design, the license

9 shall authorize temporary use of a facility, owned by

10 the Government on the date of enactment of this Act

11 and within the boundaries of the private interim

12 storage facility site, regardless of whether the facil13 ity is licensed by the Commission, under such rea14 sonable terms and conditions as the Commission

15 may specify for the use of the facility, including pro16 vision for oversight by the Commission to ensure

17 that the facility does not pose an unreasonable risk

18 to public health and safety or the environment.

19 (c) LICENSING.—On application by the consortium

20 for a license for construction and operation of the private

21 interim storage facility at the private interim storage facil22 ity site, the Commission shall review the license applica23 tion and issue a final decision on the license application

24 at the earliest practicable date, to the extent permitted
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1 by applicable law (including regulations), but not later

2 than 18 months after receipt of the license application.

3 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRON4 MENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.—Any environmental im5 pact statement prepared by the Commission under section

6 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of

7 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) in conjunction with the li8 censing of the private interim storage facility authorized

9 by this Act shall not be required to, and shall not, con10 sider—

11 (1) the need for the private interim storage fa12 cility, including any individual component of the fa13 cility;

14 (2) any alternative to ownership of the private

15 interim storage facility by the consortium;

16 (3) the timing of the availability of the private

17 interim storage facility;

18 (4) any alternative to the private interim stor19 age facility site;

20 (5) any alternative to the design criteria for the

21 facility or any individual component of the facility as

22 specified in the license application; or

23 (6) the environmental impact of storage of com24 mercial spent nuclear fuel at the facility beyond the
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1 term of the license or the term of the renewal period

2 for which application is made.

3 SEC. 9. AUDITS AND OVERSIGHT.

4 (a) BOOKS AND RECORDS.—The Comptroller General

5 shall have access to all books and records of the consor6 tium.

7 (b) ANNUAL AUDIT.—The Comptroller General shall

8 perform an annual audit of the consortium.

9 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall provide each an10 nual audit performed under subsection (b) to the Senate

11 and the House of Representatives.

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