West Valley Demonstration Project Act
PL 96-368 (S.2443), enacted 10/01/1980

PUBLIC LAW 96-368—OCT. 1, 1980 
94 STAT. 1347 
Public Law 96-868 
96th Congress 
An Act 
To authorize the Department of Energy to carry out a high-level liquid nuclear 
waste management demonstration project at the Western New York Service 
Center in West Valley, New York. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of 
America in Congress assembled. 
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "West Valley Demonstra-
tion Prmect Act". 
SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary shall carry out, in accordance with this 
Act, a high level radioactive waste management demonstration 
project at the Western New York Service Center in West VaUey, New 
York, for the purpose of demonstrating solidification tecmiiques 
which can be used for preparing high level radioactive waste for 
disposal. Under the project the Secretary shall carry out the follow-
ing activities: 
(1) The Secretary shall solidify, in a form suitable for transpor-
tation and disposal, the high level radioactive waste at the 
Center by vitrification or by such other technology which the 
Secretary determines to be the most effective for solidification. 
(2) The Secretary shall develop containers suitable for the 
permanent disposal of the high level radioactive waste solidified 
at the Center. 
(8) The Secretary shall, as soon as feasible, transport, in 
accordance with applicable provisions of law, the waste soUdiJEied 
at the Center to an appropriate Federal repository for permanent 
disposal. 
(4) The Secretary shall, in accordance with applicable licensing 
requirements, dispose of low level radioactive waste and transu-
ranic waste produced by the soUdiHcation of the high level 
radioactive waste under the project. 
(5) The Secretary shall decontaminate and decommission— 
(A) the tanks and other facilities of the Center in which 
the high level radioactive waste solidified under the project 
was stored, 
(B) the facilities used in the soUdification of 
the waste, and 
(C) any material and hardware used in coimection with 
the project, 
in accordance with such requirements as the Commission may 
prescribe, 
(b) Before undertaking the project and during the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 1981, the Secretary shall carry out the following: 
(1) The Secretary shall hold in the vicinity of the Center public 
hearings to inform the residents of the area in which the Center 
is located of the activities proposed to be undertaken under the 
project and to receive their comments on the project. 
(2) The Secretary shall consider the various technologies avail-
able for the solidification and handling of high level radioactive 
waste taking into account the unique characteristics of such 
waste at the Center. 
Oct. 1, 1980 
[S. 2443] 
West Valley 
Demonstration 
Project Act. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
Activities. 
Hearings. 
94 STAT. 1348 
PUBLIC LAW 96-368—OCT. 1, 1980 
(8) The Secretary shall— 
(A) undertake detailed engineering and cost estimates for 
theproject, 
(B) prepare a plan for the safe removal of the high level 
radioactive waste at the Center for the purposes of solidifica-
tion and include in the plan provisions respecting the safe 
breaching of the tanks in which the waste is stored, operat-
ing equipment to accomplish the removal, and sluicing 
techniques, 
(C) conduct appropriate safety analyses of the project, and 
(D) prepare requu^d environmental impact analyses of 
theproject. 
(4) The Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement 
with the State in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooper-
41 use 501 
ative Agreement Act of 1977 under which the State will cany out 
°o*e 
the following: 
(A) The State will make available to the Secretary the 
facilities of the Center and the high level radioactive waste 
at the Center which are necessary for the completion of the 
project. The facilities and the waste shall be made available 
without the transfer of title and for such period as may be 
required for completion of the project. 
(B) The Secretary shall provide technical assistance in 
securmg required license amendments. 
state costs. 
(C) The State shall pay 10 per centum of the costs of the 
project, as determined by the Secretary. In determining the 
costs of the project, the Secretary shall consider the value of 
the use of the Center for the project. The State may not use 
Federal funds to pay its share of the cost of the project, but 
may use the perpetual care fond to pay such share. 
Licensing 
(D) Submissiou jointly by the Department of Energy and 
amfiicaTio? 
*^® State of New York of an application for a licensing 
^^^ ^ 
amendment as soon as possible with the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission providing for the demonstration, 
(c) Within one year from the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Commission to 
establish arrangements for review and consultation by the Commis-
sion with respect to the project: Provided, That review and consul-
tation by the Commission pursuant to this subsection shall be 
conducted informally by the Commission and shall not include nor 
require formal procedures or actions by the Commission pursuant to 
42 use 2011 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy Reorganiza-
42 use 5801 
^^^ ^ ^ °^ ^^^^' ^ amended, or any other law. The agreement shall 
note 
provide for the following: 
(1) The Secretary shall submit to the Commission, for its 
review and comment, a plan for the solidification of the high 
level radioactive waste at the Center, the removal of the waste 
for purposes of its solidification, the preparation of the waste for 
dispose, and the decontamination of the facilities to be used in 
solidii^^ the waste. In preparing its comments on the plan, the 
Commission shall specify with precision its objections to any 
Publication 
provisiou of the plan. Upon submission of a plan to the Commis-
ReSter 
'^^®"' *^^ Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Roister 
^ 
of the submission of the plan and of its availability for public 
inspection, and, upon receipt of the comments of the Commission 
respecting a plan, the Secretary shall publish a notice in the 
Federal Register of the receipt of the comments and of the 
availability of the comments for public inspection. If the Secre-
PUBLIC LAW 96-368—OCT. 1, 1980 
94 STAT. 1349 
tary does not revise the plan to meet objections specified in the 
comments of the Commission, the Secretary shall publish in the 
Federal Roister a detailed statement for not so revising the 
plan. 
(2) The Secretary shall consult with the Commission with 
respect to the form in which the high level radioactive waste at 
the Center shsdl be solidified and the containers to be used in the 
permanent disposal of 
such waste. 
(3) The Secretary shall submit to the Commission safety 
analysis reports and such other information as the Commission 
may require to identify any danger to the public health and 
safety which may be presented by the project. 
(4) The Secretary shall afford the Commission access to the 
Center to enable the Commission to monitor the activities under 
the project for the purpose of assuring the public health and 
safety. 
(d) In carrying out the project, the Secretary shaU consult with the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency* the Secre-
tary of 
Transportation, the Director of 
the Geological Survey, and the 
commercial operator of 
the Center. 
SEC. 3. (a) "Hiere are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
for the project not more than $5,000,000 for the fiscal year ending 
September 30,1981. 
(b) The total amount obligated for the project by the Secretary shall 
be 90 per centum of 
the costs of 
the project. 
(c) The authority of 
the Secretary to enter into contracts imder this 
Act shall be effective for any fiscal year only to such extent or in such 
amounts as are provided in advance by appropriation Acts. 
SEC. 4. Not later than February 1,1981, and on February 1 of each 
calendar year thereafter during the term of 
the project, the Secretary 
shall transmit to the Speaker of 
the House of 
Representatives and the 
President pro tempore of 
the Senate an up-to-date report containing a 
detailed description of the activities of the Secretary in c a r r ^ g out 
the project, including agreements entered into and the costs mcurred 
during the period reported on and the activities to be undertaken in 
the next fiscal year and the estimated costs thereof. 
SEC. 5. (a) Other than the costs and responsibiUties established by 
this Act for the project, nothing in this Act shall be construed as 
affecting any rights, obligations, or liabiUties of the commercial 
operator of the Center, the State, or any person, as is appropriate, 
arising under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or under any other law, 
contract, or agreement for the operation, maintenance, or decontami-
nation of any facility or property at the Center or for any wastes at 
the Center. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting any 
applicable Ucensing requirement of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or 
the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. This Act shaU not apply or be 
extended to any faciUty or property at the Center which is not used in 
conducting the project. This Act may not be construed to expand or 
diminish the rignts of 
the Federal Government. 
(b) This Act does not authorize the Federal Government to acquire 
title to any high level radioactive waste at the Center or to the Center 
or any portion thereof. 
SEC. 6. For purposes of 
this Act: 
(1) The term "Secreteuy" means the Secretary of Energy. 
(2) The term "Commission" means the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. 
(3) The term "State" means the State of 
New York. 
Reports to 
Commission. 
Consultation. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
Report to 
Speaker of the 
House and 
President pro 
tempore of the 
Senate. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
42 u s e 2011 
note. 
42 u s e 5801 
note. 
Definitions. 
42 u s e 2021a 
note. 
94 STAT. 1350 
PUBLIC LAW 96-368—OCT. 1, 1980 
(4) The term **high level radioactive waste" means the high 
level radioactive waste which was produced by the reprocessing 
at the Center of spent nuclear fuel. Such term includes both 
liauid wastes which are produced directly in reprocessing, dry 
solid material derived from such liquid waste, and such other 
material as the Commission designates as high level radioactive 
waste for purposes of protecting the public health and safety. 
(5) The term "transuranic waste" means material contami-
nated with elements which have an atomic number greater than 
92, including neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium, 
and which are in concentrations greater than 10 nanocuries per 
gram, or in such other concentrations as the Commission may 
prescribe to protect the public health and safety. 
(6) The term "low level radioactive waste" means radioactive 
waste not classified as high level radioactive waste, transuranic 
waste, or byproduct material as defined in section 11 e. (2) of the 
42 use 2014. 
AtomicEneigyActofl954. 
(7) The term "project" means the project prescribed by section 
(8) The term "Center" means the Western New York Service 
Center in West Valley, New York. 
Approved October 1, 1980. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 96-1100, pt. I (Comm. on Science and Technology) and pt. 11 
(Comm. on Interstate and Foreign Commerce), both accompanying 
H.R. 6865. 
SENATE REPORT No. 96-787 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 126 (1980): 
June 12, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 15, H.R. 6865 considered and passed House; passage vacated and S. 2443, 
amended, passed in lieu. 
Sept. 17, Senate concurred in House amendment with amendments; House 
concurred in Senate amendments. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 16, No. 40: 
Oct. 1, Presidential statement.