Reps. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.) again filed a bill that would require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to certify that storage casks for nuclear waste “can safely operate” for at least 100 years.
The bill, filed Jan. 31, is becoming a perennial bloomer in Congress.
Levin, whose southern California district includes the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, filed a similar proposal a little more than a year ago.
Today, the NRC can license canisters for commercial use as long as they can safely operate for 40 years.
If signed into law, the latest 100 Year Canister Act would not require the replacement or repackaging of any existing storage canisters. Instead, it would stop the NRC from certifying new designs that do not comply with the century-long standard and prevent the commission from relicensing existing designs that meet only the current minimum.
