A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers announced this week a new caucus aiming to “drive progress” on spent nuclear fuel transportation and storage, according to a press release.
The Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus, led by Reps. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) “seeks to address the challenges associated with stranded commercial spent fuel across the country,” according to a Wednesday press release from Levin’s office.
The bipartisan coalition includes Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), the press release said.
The California-led push for spent fuel solutions on the Hill comes after nuclear power stakeholders on the West Coast formed a special interest group to achieve such an outcome. A stakeholder group, Action for Spent Fuel Solutions Now, was formed in March by Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas and Electric to advocate for the federal government to implement a “new organizational framework” for spent fuel storage, transportation and disposal.
SCE is in the process of decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, located around 80 miles south of Los Angeles and in Levin’s district.
The Joe Biden administration has said that it wants to look into a federal interim storage facility for the thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel stranded at nuclear power plants across the country. House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) told RadWaste Monitor July 12 that she believed the administration may soon start the process of finding an interested host community for such a site.
