Independent Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Act of 1999 - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to authorize persons holding spent nuclear fuel contracts to offset the expenses of providing storage of such fuel that the Secretary of Energy would have accepted if a facility was available. Authorizes such offset through credits on certain fee payments until the date of the Secretary's first acceptance at an authorized storage or disposal facility.
[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 683 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 683
To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to allow commercial
nuclear utilities that have contracts with the Secretary of Energy
under section 302 of that Act to receive credits to offset the cost of
storing spent fuel that the Secretary is unable to accept for disposal.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 23, 1999
Mr. Bryan (for himself and Mr. Reid) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to allow commercial
nuclear utilities that have contracts with the Secretary of Energy
under section 302 of that Act to receive credits to offset the cost of
storing spent fuel that the Secretary is unable to accept for disposal.
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 ``Independent Spent Nuclear Fuel
Storage Act of 1999''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Findings.
Sec. 5. Amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the term ``Commission'' means the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; and
(2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Department of Energy.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 35,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel is
currently stored at commercial nuclear reactors across the
nation;
(2) the deep geologic high-level radioactive waste and
spent nuclear fuel repository envisioned by the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) has not been
constructed in time to permit the Secretary to receive and
accept high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel as
contemplated by sections 123 and 302 of that Act (42 U.S.C.
10143, 10222), with the result that the Secretary will be
unable to perform contracts executed pursuant to section 302(a)
of that Act with persons who generate or hold title to high-
level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel;
(3) there have been no orders for the development or
construction of civilian nuclear power generating facilities
since the enactment of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982;
several such facilities that were anticipated when the Act was
enacted are not operating now;
(4) it does not now appear that a deep geologic high-level
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel repository will be
available before the year 2010 or later;
(5) by the time a deep geologic repository is available
many currently operating commercial nuclear reactors will need
spent fuel storage capacity beyond the maximum now available in
at-reactor spent fuel storage pools; nuclear utilities have
spent and will spend major sums to construct facilities,
including dry cask spent fuel storage facilities, for use in
the interim before a deep geologic repository is available;
(6) the sums spent for the purposes described in paragraph
(5) are the same funds that commercial nuclear utilities
intended to contribute to the Nuclear Waste Fund established by
section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C.
10222(c));
(7) the technology for long-term storage of spent nuclear
fuel, including the technology of dry cask storage, has
improved dramatically since the enactment of the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982, and is currently licensed by the Commission
and in operation in ten sites throughout the country;
(8) the existing statutory jurisdiction of the Commission,
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.),
the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.),
Executive Order 11834 (42 U.S.C. 5801 note), the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980, and
the Commission's various authorization Acts includes the
jurisdiction to review and evaluate the spent fuel storage
capability of commercial nuclear utilities that hold or seek
licenses to receive and possess nuclear materials from the
Commission;
(9) commercial nuclear utilities that hold licenses to
receive and possess nuclear materials are generally well suited
to maintain the institutional capability necessary to become
stewards of spent nuclear fuel during a period of interim
storage; and
(10) the increased radioactive decay that will occur in
spent nuclear fuel that has been stored for interim periods
prior to deliver to the Secretary pursuant to section 123 of
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10143) will
ease and facilitate its subsequent handling, transportation,
and final disposal.
SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1982.
Section 302 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C.
10222) is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new
subsection:
``(f)(1) Persons holding contracts under this section may, through
credits on fee payments under subsection (a)(2), offset the expenses of
providing storage of spent fuel the Secretary would have accepted if a
facility was available and until the date of the Secretary's first
acceptance of that person's spent fuel at a storage or disposal
facility authorized by this Act.
``(2) The credits described in paragraph (1)--
``(A) shall be deducted from each remittance of a person's
fee payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund from the time that the
person meets the conditions of paragraph (1) until the time
that the Secretary first accepts that person's spent fuel at a
storage or disposal facility authorized by this Act; and
``(B) shall be in an amount determined by the Secretary to
reflect the cost of storage qualifying under subsection
(f)(1).''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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