•HRES 1209 IH 
of nuclear waste, including construction of a safe and 
permanent nuclear waste repository; 
Whereas in 1987 Congress amended the NWPA by desig-
nating Yucca Mountain as the only option for a long- 
term storage site by a vote of 237–181 in the House of 
Representatives and 61–28 in the Senate; 
Whereas Congress reaffirmed Yucca Mountain’s designation 
as the only option for a long-term storage site in 2002 
by a vote of 306–117 in the House of Representatives 
and 60–39 in the Senate; 
Whereas in 2007 the House of Representatives overwhelm-
ingly rejected by a vote of 80–351 an attempt to elimi-
nate funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dis-
posal program; 
Whereas, since 1982, consumers of electricity produced at 
nuclear 
power 
plants 
have 
paid 
in 
excess 
of 
$33,000,000,000 into a fund for a waste repository pro-
gram; 
Whereas the Department of Energy has not met the statu-
tory and contractual deadline of January 31, 1998, to 
dispose of spent nuclear fuel, resulting in 72 breach of 
contract claims filed against the Department at an ap-
proximate liability cost of $1,300,000,000 to date; 
Whereas the Department of Energy predicts damages stem-
ming from breach of contract claims will be approxi-
mately $12,300,000,000 if the Department is able to 
begin accepting spent nuclear fuel by 2020 under the 
current plan, with nuclear utilities estimating the Depart-
ment’s 
total 
potential 
liability 
being 
closer 
to 
$50,000,000,000; 
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•HRES 1209 IH 
Whereas 
the 
Department 
of 
Justice 
has 
incurred 
$150,000,000 on litigation related expenses; 
Whereas the total spent for the preparation and construction 
of a permanent storage site at Yucca Mountain has ex-
ceeded $11,200,000,000; 
Whereas without the Yucca Mountain repository, current law 
provides for no other alternative for the permanent or 
temporary central storage of the Nation’s intensely radio-
active reactor wastes; 
Whereas taxpayers will receive nothing for their substantial 
investment as a result of the decision to abandon the 
Yucca Mountain project; 
Whereas nuclear materials are stored at 121 locations in 39 
States across the country awaiting transport to a perma-
nent repository; 
Whereas the Federal Government generated high-level nu-
clear waste as a part of its national defense program to 
help end World War II and the Cold War and is cur-
rently storing this waste at several sites across the Na-
tion including the Hanford Site in Washington State, the 
Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Idaho 
National Laboratory; 
Whereas the records of decision for the disposal of waste as-
sociated with multiple defense related activities have 
Yucca Mountain as the ultimate disposition site, includ-
ing waste at many locations across the country storing 
and processing various types of defense related waste; 
and 
Whereas plans underway to treat and process this waste are 
based on standards associated specifically with the na-
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•HRES 1209 IH 
tional repository at Yucca Mountain: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly believes that the decision to aban-
don the 23-year bipartisan project establishing 
Yucca Mountain as the Nation’s primary permanent 
nuclear waste storage site— 
(A) breaks a commitment made to certain 
States nearly 3 decades ago; and 
(B) goes against the will and intent of 
Congress by extending the length of time States 
will be forced to store nuclear waste at signifi-
cant additional cost to the taxpayers; and 
(2) calls upon the Administration to uphold and 
comply with the bipartisan commitment passed by 
Congress and to— 
(A) cease and desist withdrawing the 
Yucca Mountain license application from the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission with or with-
out prejudice; 
(B) cease and desist any action to move 
forward with terminating activities required to 
complete the Yucca Mountain license applica-
tion, including the termination of employees 
supporting the project and termination of any 
leases housing employees; 
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•HRES 1209 IH 
(C) halt reprogramming of fiscal year 2010 
funds appropriated by Congress for the Yucca 
Mountain license application; and 
(D) preserve all scientific and site-specific 
files and data related to Yucca Mountain in ac-
cordance with Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
document controls and quality assurance proce-
dures. 
Æ 
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