II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3215 

To require the Secretary of Energy to enter into cooperative agreements 

with private entities to share the cost of obtaining construction and 

operating licenses for certain types of recycling facilities, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2008 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to enter into cooperative 

agreements with private entities to share the cost of 

obtaining construction and operating licenses for certain 

types of recycling facilities, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Man5 agement of Advanced Recycling Technologies Act of 

6 2008’’ or the ‘‘SMART Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

5 (2) PRIVATE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘private enti6 ty’’ means— 

7 (A) a person, municipality, or electric util8 ity (as those terms are defined in section 3 of 

9 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796)); and 

10 (B) any legal successor, representative, 

11 agent, or agency of any person or entity de12 scribed in subsection (a). 

13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Energy. 

15 SEC. 3. COST-SHARE COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR LICENSING 

16 PROGRAM. 

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

18 into 1 or more cooperative agreements with private enti19 ties— 

20 (1) to develop the required licensing documenta21 tion and technical criteria for new recycling plants, 

22 as determined by the Commission by rule; 

23 (2) to conduct design and engineering work on 

24 not less than 1, but not more than 2, recycling tech25 nology designs— 


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1 (A) that is sufficient to develop the designs 

2 to a state of design completion; and 

3 (B) to allow for the development of firm 

4 cost estimates with respect to the development 

5 of the recycling technologies; and 

6 (3) to share the cost of obtaining construction 

7 and operating licenses for not more than 2 used fuel 

8 recycling facilities with a maximum individual capac9 ity of 2,500 metric tons per year and a minimum ca10 pacity of not less than 500 metric tons. 

11 (b) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Assistance under this sec12 tion shall be awarded on a competitive basis. 

13 (c) MATCHING FUNDS.—As a condition of awarding 

14 assistance under this section, the Secretary shall require 

15 that Federal funds provided under this section be matched 

16 with equal matching funds from a non-Federal source. 

17 (d) PREREQUISITES.—Assistance under this section 

18 shall be awarded only to private entities that propose to 

19 develop recycling facilities that— 

20 (1) do not separate pure plutonium; 

21 (2) reduce the burden on geological repositories 

22 for ultimate waste disposal; 

23 (3) promote extraction of additional useful en24 ergy from used fuel from recycling or reuse; 


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1 (4) use only fuel that is produced from reactors 

2 that are located in the United States; and 

3 (5) produce fuel for civilian nuclear power reac4 tors that are located in the United States. 

5 SEC. 4. LONG-TERM CONTRACTS FOR RECYCLING COMMER6 CIAL USED NUCLEAR FUEL. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Sec8 retary shall offer to enter into long-term contracts with 

9 private entities to recycle commercial used nuclear fuel. 

10 (b) PREREQUISITES.—The Secretary may enter into 

11 a long-term contract under subsection (a) only if the recy12 cling— 

13 (1) does not separate pure plutonium; 

14 (2) reduces the burden on geological reposi15 tories for ultimate waste disposal; 

16 (3) promotes extraction of additional useful en17 ergy from used fuel from recycling or reuse; 

18 (4) uses only fuel that is produced from reac19 tors that are located in the United States; and 

20 (5) produces fuel for civilian nuclear power re21 actors that are located in the United States. 

22 SEC. 5. INCENTIVES FOR SITING OF TEMPORARY USED 

23 FUEL STORAGE FACILITIES. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 means a temporary used fuel storage facility agree3 ment entered into under subsection (e). 

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

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

6 fuel by a temporary used fuel storage facility at a 

7 site within the jurisdiction of a unit of local govern8 ment that is a party to an agreement. 

9 (3) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

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

11 county, parish, town, township, village, or other gen12 eral purpose political subdivision of a State, or asso13 ciation of 2 or more political subdivisions of a State. 

14 (4) USED FUEL.—The term ‘‘used fuel’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) high-level radioactive waste produced 

17 by facilities with which the Secretary has en18 tered into a long-term contract under section 4; 

19 or 

20 (B) used nuclear fuel. 

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

22 enter into temporary used fuel storage facility agreements 

23 in accordance with this section. 

24 (c) NOTICE FROM UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

25 TO SECRETARY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 


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1 of enactment of this Act, representatives of a unit of local 

2 government may submit to the Secretary written notice 

3 that the unit of local government is willing to have a pri4 vately owned and operated temporary used fuel storage fa5 cility located at an identified site within the jurisdiction 

6 of the units of local government. 

7 (d) PRELIMINARY COMPENSATION.— 

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

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

10 11 units of local government that have submitted 

11 notices under subsection (c). 

12 (2) MULTIPLE NOTICES.—If more than 11 no13 tices are received under subsection (c), the Secretary 

14 shall make payments to the first 11 units of local 

15 government, based on the order in which the notices 

16 are received. 

17 (3) TIMING.—The payments shall be made an18 nually for a 3-year period, on the anniversary date 

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

20 (e) AGREEMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—On the docketing of an ap22 plication for a license for a temporary used fuel stor23 age facility at a site within the jurisdiction of an 

24 unit of local government by the Commission, the 

25 Secretary shall offer to enter into a temporary used 


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1 fuel storage facility economic impact agreement with 

2 the unit of local government. 

3 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An agreement 

4 between the Secretary and a unit of local govern5 ment under this subsection shall contain such terms 

6 and conditions (including such financial and institu7 tional arrangements) as the Secretary and the unit 

8 of local government determine to be reasonable and 

9 appropriate. 

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

11 (A) amended only with the mutual consent 

12 of the parties to the agreement; and 

13 (B) terminated only in accordance with 

14 paragraph (4). 

15 (4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall termi16 nate an agreement if the Secretary determines that 

17 any major element of the temporary used fuel stor18 age facility required under the agreement will not be 

19 completed. 

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

21 2 agreements may be in effect at any time. 

22 (6) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.— 

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

24 into an agreement under this subsection, the 

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1 ment and the State in which the unit of local 

2 government is located— 

3 (i) payments of— 

4 (I) on the date of entering into 

5 the agreement under this subsection, 

6 $6,000,000; 

7 (II) during the period beginning 

8 on the date of entering into an agree9 ment and ending on the date of first 

10 used fuel receipt or denial of the li11 cense application for a temporary 

12 used fuel storage facility by the Com13 mission, whichever is later, 

14 $10,000,000 for each year; and 

15 (III) during the period beginning 

16 on the date of first used fuel receipt 

17 and ending on the date of closure of 

18 the facility, a total of the higher of— 

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

20 year; or 

21 (bb) $15,000 per metric ton 

22 of used fuel received at the facil23 ity for each year, up to a max24 imum of $25,000,000 for each 

25 year; and 


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1 (ii) a payment of $20,000,000 on clo2 sure of the facility. 

3 (B) TIMING OF ANNUAL PAYMENTS.—The 

4 Secretary shall make annual payments under 

5 subparagraph (A)(i)— 

6 (i) in the case of annual payments de7 scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(II), on the 

8 anniversary of the date of the docketing of 

9 the license application by the Commission; 

10 and 

11 (ii) in the case of annual payments 

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

13 the date of the first used fuel receipt and 

14 thereafter on the anniversary date of the 

15 first used fuel receipt, in lieu of annual 

16 payments described in subparagraph 

17 (A)(i)(II). 

18 (C) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Sub19 ject to subparagraph (A)(ii), the authority to 

20 make payments under this paragraph termi21 nates on the date of closure of the facility. 

22 SEC. 6. ACCEPTANCE, STORAGE, AND SETTLEMENT OF 

23 CLAIMS. 

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

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


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1 civilian nuclear power plants with a private entity that 

2 owns or operates an independent used fuel storage facility 

3 licensed by the Commission that is located within the ju4 risdiction of a unit of local government to which payments 

5 are made pursuant to section 5(e). 

6 (b) SETTLEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF USED

7 FUEL.— 

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

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

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

11 Secretary may enter into an agreement for the set12 tlement of all claims against the Secretary under a 

13 contract for failure to dispose of high-level radio14 active waste or used nuclear fuel not later than Jan15 uary 31, 1998. 

16 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A settlement 

17 agreement described in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) shall contain such terms and condi19 tions (including such financial and institutional 

20 arrangements) as the Secretary and the party 

21 to the contract determine to be reasonable and 

22 appropriate; and 

23 (B) may include the acceptance of used 

24 fuel from the party to the contract for storage 


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1 at a facility with respect to which the Secretary 

2 has a long-term contract under paragraph (1). 

3 (c) EFFECT OF ACCEPTANCE.—Acceptance of used 

4 fuel by the Secretary under subsection (b) shall constitute 

5 transfer of title to the Secretary. 

6 (d) PRIORITY FOR ACCEPTANCE FOR CLOSED FA7 CILITIES.—If a request for fuel acceptance is made under 

8 paragraph (2) by a facility that has produced used nuclear 

9 fuel and that is shut down permanently and the facility 

10 has been decommissioned, the Secretary shall provide pri11 ority for the acceptance of the fuel produced by the facil12 ity. 

13 (e) TRANSPORTATION OF USED FUEL.— 

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

15 for the transportation of used fuel accepted by the 

16 Secretary under this subsection. 

17 (2) SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

19 procure all systems and components necessary 

20 to transport used fuel from facilities designated 

21 by contract holders to 1 or more storage facili22 ties under this subsection. 

23 (B) CASKS.—The Secretary shall— 

24 (i) use transportation and storage 

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1 sion in use at facilities designated by con2 tract holders; and 

3 (ii) compensate the owner and oper4 ator of each facility for the use of the 

5 casks. 

6 SEC. 7. FUNDING. 

7 (a) CONTRACTS AND FEES.—Section 302(a) of the 

8 Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(a)) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(2) For’’ and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) FEE FOR ELECTRICITY FROM CIVILIAN NU14 CLEAR POWER REACTORS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTED FEE.—For electricity gen18 erated by a civilian nuclear power reactor and 

19 sold on or after the date that is 90 days after 

20 the date of enactment of the Strengthening 

21 Management of Advanced Recycling Tech22 nologies Act of 2008, the fee under paragraph 

23 (1) shall be 1 mill per kilowatt-hour.’’; and 

24 (2) in paragraph (4)— 


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1 (A) by designating the first through fifth 

2 sentences as subparagraphs (A) through (E), 

3 respectively; and 

4 (B) by striking subparagraph (E) (as so 

5 designated) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) EFFECTIVE DATE OF ADJUSTED

7 FEE.—The adjusted fee proposed by the Sec8 retary shall be effective on the date a law is en9 acted approving the proposed adjustment of the 

10 Secretary.’’. 

11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR WASTE FUNDS.— 

12 Section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 

13 U.S.C. 10222) is amended by striking subsection (c) and 

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF NUCLEAR WASTE

16 FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NUCLEAR WASTE REVOLVING FUND.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab19 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

20 separate revolving fund, to be known as the Nu21 clear Waste Revolving Fund (referred to in this 

22 section as the ‘Waste Fund’). 

23 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Subject to paragraph 

24 (2)(B)(i), the Waste Fund shall consist of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) all interest realized by the Sec2 retary under subsection (e), which have 

3 been and shall be deposited in the Waste 

4 Fund immediately on receipt; 

5 ‘‘(ii) any appropriation made to the 

6 Waste Fund; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) any unexpended balances avail8 able on January 7, 1983, for functions or 

9 activities necessary or incident to the dis10 posal of civilian high level radioactive 

11 waste or civilian used nuclear fuel, which 

12 shall be transferred to the Waste Fund on 

13 the date of enactment of this subpara14 graph. 

15 ‘‘(2) NUCLEAR WASTE LEGACY FUND.— 

16 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab17 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

18 separate fund, to be known as the Nuclear 

19 Waste Legacy Fund (referred to in this section 

20 as the ‘Legacy Fund’). 

21 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The Legacy Fund shall 

22 consist of— 

23 ‘‘(i) the amount of the corpus minus 

24 $1 billion which shall be transferred from 


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1 the Waste Fund on the date of enactment 

2 of this subparagraph; 

3 ‘‘(ii) fees paid under subsections (a) 

4 and (b); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) any appropriations made to the 

6 Legacy Fund.’’. 

7 (c) AUTHORIZED USES OF NUCLEAR WASTE

8 FUNDS.—Section 302(d) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 10222(d)) is amended in the first sentence— 

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 inserting ‘‘management of used nuclear fuel or’’ 

12 after ‘‘only for purposes of’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

14 the semicolon at the end; 

15 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and 219.’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘141, and 219 and section 5 of the 

17 Strengthening Management of Advanced Recycling 

18 Technologies Act of 2008; and’’; and 

19 (4) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(7) any costs associated with storage and recy22 cling of used nuclear fuel incurred pursuant to sec23 tions 3, 4, and 5 of the Strengthening Management 

24 of Advanced Recycling Technologies Act of 2008.’’. 


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1 (d) ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS.—Section 302(e) of 

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

3 10222(e)) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

5 (6) as paragraphs (6) through (8), respectively; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION OF

7 WASTE FUND’’ and all that follows through the end 

8 of paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

11 Treasury shall maintain the Waste Fund and the 

12 Legacy Fund (referred to in this subsection as the 

13 ‘Funds’). 

14 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—After consultation 

15 with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary 

16 shall report annually to Congress on the financial 

17 condition and operations of the Funds during the 

18 preceding fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(3) BUDGET.— 

20 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall 

21 submit the budget of the Funds to the Office 

22 of Management and Budget triennially along 

23 with the budget of the Department of Energy 

24 submitted in accordance with chapter 11 of title 

25 31, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—The budget of 

2 the Funds shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) contain estimates made by the 

4 Secretary of expenditures from the Funds, 

5 and other relevant financial matters, for 

6 the succeeding 3 fiscal years; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) be included in the budget for the 

8 United States Government. 

9 ‘‘(4) EXPENDITURES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) WASTE FUND.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub12 section (d) and any limitations in appro13 priations Acts, the Secretary may make ex14 penditures from the Waste Fund without 

15 further appropriation and without fiscal 

16 year limitation to carry out this Act. 

17 ‘‘(ii) CERTAIN PAYMENTS.—Notwith18 standing clause (i), the Secretary shall 

19 make expenditures from the Waste Fund 

20 to make payments under contracts and 

21 agreements entered into by the Secretary 

22 under sections 4(a), 5(e), and 5(f) of the 

23 Strengthening Management of Advanced 

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1 out further appropriation and without fis2 cal year limitation. 

3 ‘‘(B) LEGACY FUND.—The Secretary may 

4 make expenditures from the Legacy Fund, sub5 ject to appropriations, to remain available until 

6 expended. 

7 ‘‘(5) INVESTMENTS.—If the Secretary deter8 mines that either of the Funds contains at any time 

9 amounts in excess of current needs, the Secretary 

10 may request the Secretary of the Treasury to invest 

11 such amounts, or any portion of such amounts as 

12 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, in obli13 gations of the United States— 

14 ‘‘(A) having maturities determined by the 

15 Secretary of the Treasury to be appropriate to 

16 the needs of the Fund; and 

17 ‘‘(B) bearing interest at rates determined 

18 to be appropriate by the Secretary of the Treas19 ury, taking into consideration the current aver20 age market yield on outstanding marketable ob21 ligations of the United States with remaining 

22 periods to maturity comparable to the matu23 rities of those investments, except that the in24 terest rate on the investments shall not exceed 


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1 the average interest rate applicable to existing 

2 borrowing.’’. 

3 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) Section 6 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act 

5 of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10105) is repealed. 

6 (2) Section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy 

7 Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222) is amended by strik8 ing the section heading and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘NUCLEAR WASTE FUNDS’’. 

10 SEC. 8. WASTE CONFIDENCE. 

11 For purposes of a determination by the Commission 

12 on whether to grant, amend, or renew any license under 

13 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 

14 and this Act, the obligation of the Secretary to develop 

15 a repository in accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy 

16 Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) shall provide suffi17 cient and independent grounds for any further findings 

18 by the Commission of reasonable assurances that used nu19 clear fuel and high-level radioactive waste would be dis20 posed of safely and in a timely manner. 

Æ 


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