Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 2023

Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 2023

This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE), in determining the order for accepting high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel for disposal or storage under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, to prioritize the acceptance of waste or fuel from certain civilian nuclear power reactors. DOE must give the highest priority to decommissioned or decommissioning reactors located in areas (1) with large populations, (2) with high earthquake hazards, and (3) where the continued storage of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel poses a significant national security concern.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3862 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3862

    To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prioritize the 
 acceptance of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel from 
    certain civilian nuclear power reactors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2023

 Mr. Levin (for himself, Mr. Issa, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Steel, Ms. Porter, 
 and Mrs. Kim of California) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prioritize the 
 acceptance of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel from 
    certain civilian nuclear power reactors, 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 ``Spent Fuel Prioritization Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE PRIORITY FOR 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:
    ``(7) In determining the order in which the Secretary will accept 
high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel for disposal or 
storage, the Secretary shall prioritize high-level radioactive waste or 
spent nuclear fuel from a civilian nuclear power reactor based on the 
operating status of the civilian nuclear power reactor, the population 
of the area in which the civilian nuclear power reactor is located, the 
earthquake hazard of the area in which the civilian nuclear power 
reactor is located, and national security risk related to the continued 
storage of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel in the 
area in which the civilian nuclear power reactor is located, giving 
highest priority to a civilian nuclear power reactor that is--
            ``(A) decommissioned or decommissioning;
            ``(B) located in an area, as determined by the Secretary, 
        the population of which is the largest;
            ``(C) located in an area with the highest hazard of an 
        earthquake, as indicated by the Seismic Hazard Maps published 
        by the Director of the United States Geological Survey pursuant 
        to section 5(b)(3)(J) of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act 
        of 1977; and
            ``(D) located in an area, as determined by the Secretary 
        (in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security), where the continued storage of 
        high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel poses a 
        significant national security concern.''.
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