A bill to prohibit the use of Federal funds for the private interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, and for other purposes.

Bill: 117-s-3741
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2022-03-02
Policy area: Energy
Latest action: action_date: 2022-03-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-03-02
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill generally prohibits the use of federal funds, including funds from the federal Judgment Fund, for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel by a privately owned facility.</p> <p>The prohibition does not apply to (1) manufacturers of nuclear reactors or fabricators of nuclear fuel that accept the return of spent nuclear fuel, (2) nuclear power plants that accept spent nuclear fuel for interim storage, or (3) privately owned interim storage facilities that are currently in operation. Funds may also be used for costs associated with transferring or storing spent nuclear fuel at sites owned by the Department of Energy.</p>

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3741 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 2, 2022 Mr. Heinrich (for himself and Mr. Cruz ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To prohibit the use of Federal funds for the private interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, and for other purposes.

1. Prohibition on use of Federal funds for private interim storage of spent nuclear fuel until such time that a permanent repository is available to accept the spent nuclear fuel (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Disposal; monitored retrievable storage facility; repository; spent nuclear fuel; storage The terms disposal , monitored retrievable storage facility , repository , spent nuclear fuel , and storage have the meanings given the terms in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 ( 42 U.S.C. 10101 ). (2) Monitored retrievable storage The term monitored retrievable storage has the same meaning as in subtitle C of title I of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 ( 42 U.S.C. 10161 et seq. ). (b) Prohibition (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law and subject to subsection (c), during the period described in subsection (d), no Federal funds made available under any Act, including amounts made available under the permanent judgment appropriation established pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the Judgment Fund ), for any fiscal year may be used for any costs associated with the identification, development, licensing, granting of rights-of-way, construction, operation, decommissioning, or post-decommissioning maintenance and monitoring of any privately owned— (A) monitored retrievable storage facility; (B) consolidated interim storage facility that serves the purpose and function of monitored retrievable storage under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 ( 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. ); or (C) spent nuclear fuel storage facility that— (i) is not— (I) colocated at the site of a nuclear fuel production, fabrication, or utilization facility; or (II) in operation as of the date of enactment of this Act; and (ii) serves the purpose and function of monitored retrievable storage under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 ( 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. ). (2) Scope The prohibition described in paragraph (1) extends to contracting for the services of a private company for any storage of spent nuclear fuel at, or transportation of spent nuclear fuel to, a privately owned facility that serves the purpose and function of monitored retrievable storage under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 ( 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. ) for the purpose of consolidating the storage of domestic spent nuclear fuel at 1 or more facilities until such time that a repository is available to accept the spent nuclear fuel for permanent disposal. (c) Limitations Subsection (b) does not prohibit— (1) a manufacturer of nuclear reactors or fabricator of nuclear fuel from accepting spent nuclear fuel at the site where the spent nuclear fuel is fabricated or generated; (2) an operating or decommissioned nuclear power plant from accepting spent nuclear fuel for interim storage at the site of the plant; (3) the use of Federal funds for the costs described in that subsection that are associated with the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2); (4) the use of Federal funds for storage of spent nuclear fuel at, or the transportation of spent nuclear fuel to, federally owned facilities at Department of Energy sites in existence as of the date of enactment of this Act; or (5) the transfer of spent nuclear fuel owned by the Department of Energy between Department of Energy sites. (d) Period of prohibition described The period referred to in subsection (b) is the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date on which the Secretary of Energy certifies to Congress that a permanent repository is available to accept the spent nuclear fuel. (e) Department of Energy funds No funds of the Department of Energy shall be used to pay to any privately owned facility described in subsection (b) any damages awarded in any civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States relating to the prohibition under subsection (b). (f) Rule of construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply that, prior to the date of enactment of this Act, any privately owned facility described in subsection (b) may receive any funds from the Federal Government for the activities prohibited under that subsection. (g) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report detailing— (1) possible locations, or a description of a possible siting process, for future consolidated interim storage facilities and repositories of spent nuclear fuel if Congress were to authorize the siting, construction, and operation of new storage facilities or repositories through the use of a consent-based system; and (2) the estimated costs and risks of that future consolidated interim storage.