I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1309

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to provide compensation and increased

safety for on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

waste.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to provide compensation and increased safety for on-site storage of spent

nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

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 ‘‘The Nuclear Waste

5 Protection and Responsible Compensation Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) ensure the permanent program for disposi9 tion of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive
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1 waste continues with adequate political support and

2 funding;

3 (2) ensure the continued safety of on-site stor4 age of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

5 waste by expanding both State and local govern6 ments rights to ensure citizens and local commu7 nities are protected;

8 (3) ensure the Federal government’s obligation

9 for disposition of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

10 radioactive waste is met without spending taxpayer

11 funds;

12 (4) ensure the continued safety of on-site stor13 age of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

14 waste by ensuring complete funding; and

15 (5) ensure that spent nuclear fuel and high16 level radioactive waste at shutdown nuclear reactors

17 is removed first once the permanent disposition pro18 gram is licensed.

19 SEC. 3. PROTECTING THE SEARCH FOR A LONG-TERM

20 OPTION.

21 No commercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level ra22 dioactive waste shall be transported offsite for away-from

23 reactor storage until a final license for a permanent dis24 position program is issued by the Nuclear Regulatory

25 Commission.
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1 SEC. 4. STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY TO

2 IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF ON-SITE STORAGE.

3 State and local governments may negotiate with utili4 ties to provide additional protections above the current

5 Federal minimum standards that ensure citizens and local

6 communities are adequately protected from spent nuclear

7 fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

8 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION FOR CONTINUED ON-SITE

9 STORAGE.

10 (a) NUCLEAR WASTE ESCROW ACCOUNT.—Each nu11 clear power utility shall, beginning in fiscal year 2000, re12 tain the amount the utility would be required to pay into

13 the Nuclear Waste Fund and deposit it into an account

14 in a financial institution of the utilities choice. For pur15 poses of this section the account shall be referred to as

16 the ‘‘Nuclear Waste Escrow Account’’.

17 (1) ACCOUNT COLLECTION.—The Secretary of

18 Energy shall collect the entire balance of the Nu19 clear Waste Escrow Account from each nuclear

20 power utility on September 30, 2004, and again on

21 September 30, 2009, and deposit the funds in the

22 Nuclear Waste Fund. The Secretary of Energy re23 tains future rights to each Nuclear Waste Escrow

24 Account beyond September 30, 2009 and shall col25 lect such Accounts when the current Nuclear Waste

26 Fund is lacking sufficient funds to continue the
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1 search for long-term permanent disposition of spent

2 nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

3 (2) INVESTMENT.—Each Nuclear Waste Es4 crow Account account shall be invested by the nu5 clear power utilities which established it to earn

6 market rates of return. Any interest collected above

7 the Treasury interest rate shall be placed into a

8 Utility On-site Compensation Fund described in sub9 section (b).

10 (3) ASSURANCE OF FUNDS.—Each nuclear

11 power utility shall manage its Nuclear Waste Escrow

12 Account in accordance with the requirements of the

13 regulations published at 10 C.F.R. 50.75 relating to

14 assurances provided to the Nuclear Regulatory Com15 mission that funds will be available for decommis16 sioning.

17 (b) ON-SITE COMPENSATION FUND.—Each nuclear

18 power utility which established a Nuclear Waste Escrow

19 Account shall establish the Utility On-site Compensation

20 Fund referred to in subsection (a)(2). Such fund shall be

21 available to the utility with the following conditions:

22 (1) FUND USE.—The fund shall be used for the

23 on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level

24 radioactive waste that should have been accepted by
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1 the Secretary of Energy under Article VI B of the

2 Standard Contract (10 CFR Part 961).

3 (2) AMOUNTS REMAINING.—Any amounts re4 maining in the fund after expenditures under para5 graph (1) shall be paid to the Secretary for the

6 Shutdown Reactor Fund established by the Sec7 retary under subsection (c).

8 (c) SHUTDOWN REACTOR FUND.—

9 (1) FEDERAL SHUTDOWN REACTOR FUND.—

10 The Secretary shall establish the Federal Shutdown

11 Reactor Fund in which amounts paid to the Sec12 retary under subsection (b)(2) shall be deposited.

13 (2) UTILITY SHUTDOWN REACTOR FUND.—A

14 nuclear power utility which has been shut down shall

15 establish a Utility Shutdown Reactor Fund. The

16 Secretary shall pay to each fund an amount from

17 the Federal Shutdown Reactor Fund to enable the

18 fund to be available to pay the costs of on-site stor19 age of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive

20 waste at the shutdown reactor.

21 SEC. 6. PRIORITY FOR SHUTDOWN REACTOR WASTE.

22 The current spent nuclear fuel and high-level radio23 active waste queue as defined in the Standard Contract

24 (10 C.F.R. 961) shall be adjusted to place all spent nu-
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1 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at shutdown nu2 clear reactors first in the queue.

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITION.

4 As used in this Act spent nuclear fuel and high-level

5 radioactive waste shall be considered non-defense wastes.

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