Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/2/2015
Funding for both an interim storage pilot program and the Yucca Mountain licensing process should be included in a possible omnibus spending bill in December, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said this week at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va. Simpson, a longtime Yucca supporter, pointed to nuclear waste storage strategy as a possible area of contention between the House and Senate as the chambers aim to resolve their energy spending bill differences. In the past, according to Simpson, the House has required Yucca funding in any energy spending bill while Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has blocked any Yucca appropriations, resulting in a waste impasse.
“Unfortunately, that strategy has constipated the system, and we need to deal with that,” Simpson said. “Both [Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)] and I are on the same page on this. We need both of these programs moving forward. Whether we can get and keep the money in for Yucca Mountain in the bill and Harry Reid prevents that from coming to the floor in an omnibus, I don’t know. But we will still challenge that and get the necessary funding to do both a pilot program and continue the NRC licensing for Yucca Mountain.”
The House bill provides $150 million to the Department of Energy for nuclear waste disposal activities as outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and $25 million to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission so it can complete the Yucca Mountain licensing review. The Senate bill includes $97 million for DOE’s used fuel disposition program, of which $30 million would go toward DOE’s interim storage strategy; $3 million would be used to study a defense waste repository pathway, and $64 million would be directed to spent fuel research.
The Department of Energy has maintained, despite Republican pressure, that Yucca Mountain remains “unworkable” for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste storage due to the lack of consent for the repository in Nevada. DOE still intends to move forward with a consent-based pilot interim storage facility as the preferred strategy to satisfy the nation’s spent fuel issues.
Momentum toward nuclear waste policy reform has been growing in Congress since the year began. On the Senate side, Alexander, chairman of the Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, has voiced his support for Yucca Mountain, and has said that in conjunction with interim storage, funding for the project could make the Senate’s final appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2016. Alexander also last month introduced with bipartisan support a bill that would overhaul the nation’s nuclear waste policy and allow the construction of a pilot interim storage facility, among other things. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, earlier this year released a safety evaluation report on Yucca Mountain, which found the repository design meets most regulatory safety requirements.
Conaway Introduces Interim Storage Bill
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) this week introduced his bill that would enable private companies such as Waste Control Specialists to host a consolidated interim nuclear waste storage facility. The “Interim Consolidated Storage Act of 2015” would amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to allow the Department of Energy to enter into interim storage contracts with private companies that hold a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to store used nuclear fuel.
The bill largely resembles Conaway’s draft legislation that emerged earlier this summer, including provisions that would require DOE to take title of the waste, enable the secretary of energy to enter into a settlement agreement with utilities, and open the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the storage, although DOE would be limited to only spending interest accrued from the fund in a given fiscal year. According to some industry executives, though, the bill is unlikely to be approved.
Conaway, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was joined by 15 other House lawmakers. Among the co-sponsors, 11 represent districts in Texas—a positive sign for WCS’ consent-based case— while the remaining four come from areas with a shut-down nuclear plant. “This failure of government to act has littered communities across the nation with high level nuclear waste stored in less than ideal conditions, including at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station [SONGS] in my own district,” said co-sponsor Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). “The Interim Consolidated Storage Act provides for a creative solution to a critical infrastructure need. The legislation would pair a region that is volunteering to host an interim waste storage facility with communities around the country that have nuclear waste demanding a better storage solution.”
Other co-sponsors are: Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Gene Green (D-Texas), Sam Johnson (R-Texas), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Kenny Marchant (R-Texas), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), John Carter (R-Texas), Randy Neugebaur (R-Texas), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Blake Fahrenthold (R-Texas), John Culberson (R-Texas), Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), and Roger Williams (R-Texas).
Andrews Community Welcomes Bill
The bill comes after Waste Control Specialists earlier this year announced plans to construct a private, consent-based interim storage facility at its Andrews, Texas, site, which is within Conaway’s district. The facility is pending approval of a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and an indication from Congress that DOE could move forward with shipping waste to a location other than Yucca Mountain.
Following the bill’s introduction, WCS and leaders from the Andrews Industrial Foundation celebrated the positive step forward. “WCS applauds the bill introduced by Congressman Conaway,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said. “This is another significant step in a process to provide a mechanism that will give the U.S. Department of Energy the necessary ability to enter into contracts with private companies with the ability to provide interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. This is an important development in the efforts to establish an interim solution to a national issue – material currently stranded at nuclear facilities across the country.”
Andrews Industrial Foundation President Lloyd Eisenrich added: “For more than two decades, Andrews County has taken the national lead in providing a safe solution for low-level radioactive waste through its partnership with Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS), and we hope to do the same for spent nuclear fuel as WCS is preparing an interim storage license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Andrews County facility.”
During a press conference announcing its plans, WCS said it believed it could accept waste in Andrews under current legislation, but management would like confirmation from Congress on this interpretation. Should Congress give a positive signal, WCS plans to submit a license application sometime in 2016; under its schedule laid out earlier this year, the NRC would take three years to review the application, paving the way for an operations start date in late 2020.
