Legislation supporting consolidated interim storage for nuclear waste is unlikely to get consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, a committee aide said Wednesday.
The Interim Consolidated Storage Act, the latest version of which was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in January, would allow the Department of Energy to enter into public-private contracts for the storage of certain high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, using expenditures from the federal Nuclear Waste Fund.
The aide said the legislation is not a priority for the Republican-led committee because it would directly compete with efforts to restart the national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, as the bill requires mandatory spending from the Nuclear Waste Fund, a now-$34 billion fund that Congress appropriated for the sole purpose of developing Yucca. The bill has garnered 18 cosponsors, split evenly among Republicans and Democrats, including Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), who submitted corresponding legislation in the prior Congress.
Lawmakers from various states have demanded solutions for finally moving spent fuel stranded at nuclear sites to a more permanent resting place. When Issa introduced the legislation in January, he said maintaining the status quo on nuclear waste is not an option.
“In my district, the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station houses more than 3.6 million pounds of nuclear material right on the coast, along a fault line, on one of the largest U.S. military bases, in the heart of one of our most densely populated communities,” the congressman said in a prepared statement. “Allowing it to stay there indefinitely is only asking for trouble. This is just one of hundreds of examples of similar sites nationwide.”
Meanwhile, the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, introduced by Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), also appears to be a nonstarter in the committee. The bill would require DOE to obtain consent of affected state and local governments before making an expenditure from the Nuclear Waste Fund for a nuclear waste repository. According to the aide, if siting required consent from all local entities, nuclear fuel would never move. The bill has two Democratic cosponsors from Nevada, where most officials have long fought against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.
Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate. It was referred to the upper chamber’s Environment and Public Works Committee.
Titus staffer Kyle Roerink said by email Friday that the congresswoman is leading the charge against Yucca Mountain, as the most senior member if the Nevada House delegation. Yucca opponents took a major hit this year with the retirement of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who made the fight against the failed repository a cornerstone of his time in office.
“No state or community should have a nuclear waste dump forced upon them,” Titus said in a statement in January. “This bipartisan, bicameral, commonsense legislation gives voice to those most affected while creating a process to address the nation’s nuclear waste concerns.”
Finally, the aide said the House committee supports the concept for Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) Sensible Nuclear Waste Disposition Act, which would prohibit DOE from planning, developing, or constructing a defense waste repository until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made a final decision on authorizing construction of the Yucca Mountain repository. However, the aide said the bill would need to be restructured to address interim storage.
“American taxpayers have put over $3.7 billion into Yucca Mountain—they deserve to see it completed,” Wilson said in a statement in January. “This legislation will prevent a new facility from being constructed until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission makes a decision regarding the license for Yucca Mountain.”
