[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5061 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5061
To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to clarify the obligation
of the Federal Government to take possession of and title to high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and provide for its timely and
safe transportation, storage, and disposal, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 20, 1994
Mr. Towns (for himself, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Barcia of Michigan, Mr.
Ehlers, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Barlow, Mr. Upton, Mr. Minge and Mr. Hilliard)
introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly, to the
Committees on Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to clarify the obligation
of the Federal Government to take possession of and title to high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and provide for its timely and
safe transportation, storage, and disposal, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Integrated Spent Fuel and
High-Level Waste Management Act of 1994''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Congressional Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) The transportation, storage, and disposal of high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is a matter of
national urgency that is the responsibility of this generation.
(2) The utility generators and owners of high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, together with their
customers, have met, and will continue to meet, their
obligations under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to
provide for the cost of siting, licensing, construction, and
operation of a Federal waste management system.
(3) Some utilities have now exhausted their spent nuclear
fuel pool storage capacity, a total of 26 nuclear power
reactors will reach their spent nuclear fuel pool storage
capacity by the end of 1998, and approximately 80 nuclear power
reactors will be without spent nuclear fuel pool storage
capacity by 2010. As a result, utility rate payers face
significant costs associated with expanding storage capacity at
reactor sites, and continued delay is unacceptable.
(4) Federal efforts to site, license, construct, and
operate disposal facilities in accordance with the provisions
of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 have not met the
timetables contemplated by such Act.
(5) The Secretary of Energy has a clear and unconditional
obligation to take possession of and title to high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel beginning not later
than January 31, 1998.
(6) Notwithstanding the passage of 12 years since enactment
of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the payment of more
than $8,400,000,000 into the Nuclear Waste Fund during such
period, and the additional programmatic direction provided by
the Congress in the 1987 amendments to such Act, the projected
date of commencement of operations at a repository is, under
the most optimistic of assumptions, 2010.
(7) Until a repository is operational, interim storage will
continue to be required for high-level radioactive waste and
spent nuclear fuel.
(8) In light of the obligation of the Secretary of Energy
to accept high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel
beginning not later than January 31, 1998, the Secretary must
establish an interim storage facility for such waste and spent
fuel by such date.
(b) Statement of Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the
following:
(1) To specify with certainty the obligation of the Federal
Government to take possession of and title to high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and provide for its
timely and safe transportation, storage, and disposal.
(2) To provide the Secretary of Energy with additional
incentives and means for succeeding in the siting, licensing,
construction, and operation of Federal facilities for the
storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent
nuclear fuel.
(3) To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an
interim storage facility for high-level radioactive waste and
spent nuclear fuel of domestic origin by January 31, 1998, for
the purpose of fulfilling the obligation of the Federal
Government under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL OBLIGATION TO TAKE POSSESSION OF AND TITLE TO HIGH-
LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.
Section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C.
10222(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7)(A)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or
other law, the terms of the contracts entered into pursuant to this
section, or the commencement of operations of a repository, the
Secretary shall, by not later than January 31, 1998, begin taking
possession and providing for the removal from existing storage
facilities of the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel
covered by such contracts.
``(ii) A means of fulfilling the obligation set forth in clause (i)
shall be the Federal Integrated Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste
Management Program established in section 162.
``(B) The Secretary shall take possession and provide for the
removal of the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel
referred to in subparagraph (A) in accordance with the acceptance
priority ranking as required by the contracts entered into pursuant to
this section.
``(C) As any high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel
referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) comes into the possession of,
and is removed by, the Secretary, title to such waste or spent fuel
shall transfer to the Secretary.''.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL INTEGRATED SPENT FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL WASTE MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Subtitle E of title I of the Nuclear Waste Policy
Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10172 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``federal integrated spent fuel and high-level waste management program
``Sec. 162. (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish and
administer in accordance with this section a Federal Integrated Spent
Fuel and High-Level Waste Management Program as a means of fulfilling,
in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner, the responsibility of
the Federal Government to take possession and provide for the removal
from existing storage facilities of, and take title to, high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel as provided in section
302(a)(7), and to provide for the management of high-level radioactive
waste and spent nuclear fuel in accordance with subsection (b).
``(b) Components of Program.--The Federal Integrated Spent Fuel and
High-Level Waste Management Program shall include the following
components:
``(1) Development and use of a multipurpose canister system
or systems for the transportation, storage, and disposal of
spent nuclear fuel.
``(2) Development of the transportation infrastructure
required to carry out the storage and disposal of high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in accordance with the
Program.
``(3) Establishment of an interim storage facility for
high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, consistent
with applicable licensing and environmental protection
requirements, by not later than January 31, 1998.
``(4) Disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent
nuclear fuel in a repository developed under this Act.
``(c) Progress Reports.--The Secretary shall submit to the
Congress, not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
this section and annually thereafter, a comprehensive progress report
with specific details of how the Secretary is implementing the Federal
Integrated Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Management Program. Each
report shall also include a list of recommendations for the continued
successful implementation of the Program and any proposed implementing
legislation. Prior to submission of any such report, the Secretary
shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of the availability of a
draft of the report, and shall solicit comments from interested
parties.''.
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