A Senate bill proposes a new federal agency to oversee nuclear waste management, and permits an interim storage facility until selection of a permanent repository.
On April 25, 2013, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chairman of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released a discussion draft of the Nuclear Waste Administration Act to manage commercial spent fuel and radioactive waste from defense programs. The draft builds on Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) recommendations on America’s Nuclear Future. President Barack Obama commissioned the BRC in 2010 to devise a strategy to manage the growing stock of nuclear waste after halting work on Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository. The Commission released its final report in January 2012, detailing recommendations to establish a safe and long-term solution to dispose nuclear waste. The bill establishes an integrated storage and repository system that would expand opportunities to supply nuclear energy.
The bill proposes a new federal agency – the Nuclear Waste Administration – in place of the Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the nuclear waste program. An Oversight Board comprising officials from the Office of Management and Budget, Army Corps of Engineers, and DOE would oversee the agency’s administration. The agency would build a pilot storage facility to store spent fuel from decommissioned and at-risk operating plants, and consolidated facilities for temporary storage of spent fuel for utilities or defense wastes. While the interim storage is used, the agency would continue with repository siting and construction processes. At present, spent nuclear fuel is stored at commercial nuclear facilities, and high-level radioactive waste from nuclear weapons programs is stored at DOE sites. The bill requires the agency to employ a consent-based siting process to solicit states and local governments to volunteer sites. It also establishes a Nuclear Waste Fund to receive fees collected from utilities relying on nuclear power. Currently, the fund collects approximately $765 million per year.
The discussion draft will be open to public comment until May 24th before a final bill is released for congressional consideration.
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