Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Restriction Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6665 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6665

  To prohibit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing certain 
     licenses for the storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
               radioactive waste, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2025

    Mr. Nehls (for himself and Mr. Jackson of Texas) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing certain 
     licenses for the storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
               radioactive waste, 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 ``Consolidated Interim Storage 
Facility Restriction Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION LICENSES FOR 
              CERTAIN STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL 
              RADIOACTIVE WASTE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The nuclear industry of the United States is largely 
        governed and regulated pursuant to authorities under the Atomic 
        Energy Act of 1954, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and 
        the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
            (2) The Commission issues and enforces certain regulations 
        relating to such nuclear industry.
            (3) Congress maintains the constitutional authority to 
        repeal or otherwise prohibit through legislation certain 
        actions taken by Federal departments and agencies, including 
        the Commission, under section 8 of article I of the 
        Constitution (commonly referred to as the ``necessary and 
        proper clause'').
            (4) The Commission has concluded that it possesses the 
        statutory authority to issue a license authorizing a private 
        entity to store spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive 
        waste at privately owned away from reactor storage sites, 
        commonly referred to as ``consolidated interim storage 
        facilities'', and have issued such licenses.
            (5) The authority of the Commission to issue such licenses 
        has since been challenged in court, resulting in a circuit 
        split between the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th 
        Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the District 
        of Columbia Circuit, versus the United States Court of Appeals 
        for the 5th Circuit.
            (6) The transportation and storage of spent nuclear fuel 
        and high-level radioactive waste pose significant threats to 
        the health and safety of the public.
            (7) Spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste 
        require stable long-term facilities for safe storage, and such 
        storage requires proper oversight from Congress and the 
        Commission to ensure the health and safety of the public.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Commission lacks express statutory authority to issue a license 
specified in subsection (a)(4).
    (c) Prohibition on Issuance of Licenses.--Beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, notwithstanding any provision of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954 (40 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission may not issue a license authorizing--
            (1) the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel or high-level 
        radioactive waste at a facility other than--
                    (A) a facility with an operating civilian nuclear 
                power reactor from which such spent fuel or waste was 
                generated; or
                    (B) a federally owned interim storage facility; or
            (2) the long-term storage, or permanent disposal, of spent 
        nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste at a facility 
        other than a federally owned repository under such Act.
    (d) Nullification of Current Licenses.--Any license specified in 
subsection (c) in effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act 
shall be deemed null and void.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Civilian nuclear power reactor; disposal; high-level 
        radioactive waste; repository; spent nuclear fuel; storage.--
        The terms ``civilian nuclear power reactor'', ``disposal'', 
        ``high-level radioactive waste'', ``repository'', ``spent 
        nuclear fuel'', and ``storage'' have the meanings given those 
        terms in section 2 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 
        U.S.C. 10101).
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Nuclear 
        Regulatory Commission.
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