Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
4/17/2015
The House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water appropriations bill that cleared the subcommittee this week includes a total of $200 million that would go toward Yucca Mountain, but it does not include any funding for interim storage. Any funding for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel would need to be tied to Yucca Mountain, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said this week at the 2016 Energy and Water bill markup. “It depends on what the Senate does and what is negotiated out between the House and Senate on that,” Simpson told reporters following the markup when asked about interim storage funding. “They would like to do, obviously, interim storage. I think interim storage needs to be done too, but not at the expense of Yucca Mountain.”
Simpson has said in the past that he would support interim storage if Yucca Mountain is also supported. “If we can do both, I’m all for it, and I think our authorizing committees would be too,” he said this week. “Our authorizing committee, though, is not going to go for not putting any funding for Yucca Mountain and just starting interim storage, when the law of the land is Yucca Mountain.”
Funding Would Go to Yucca Licensing
House Appropriators included $200 million in the 2016 Energy and Water spending bill to push forward the Yucca Mountain licensing review, according to the bill released this week. The bill would provide $150 million to the Department of Energy for nuclear waste disposal activities as outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and $50 million to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission so it can complete the Yucca Mountain licensing review. DOE had requested $30 million in FY 2016 for integrated waste management system activities while the NRC did not request any money for the Yucca Mountain review. The enacted 2015 budget did not include any funding for Yucca Mountain, though the House version of the FY’15 bill had included a total of $205 million for the project.
Bill Rejects Interim Storage Language
The bill also rejects the Department’s proposal to reform the NWPA to allow for consolidated interim storage. The Department requested language that would enable it to restructure the current nuclear waste management funding arrangement so as to enable funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund to go towards activities outside of Yucca Mountain. DOE first proposed such an approach in last year’s budget request, but the language did not make into the final FY 2015 appropriations bill. “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to conduct closure of adjudicatory functions, technical review, or support activities associated with the Yucca Mountain geologic repository license application, or for actions that irrevocably remove the possibility that Yucca Mountain may be a repository option in the future,” the bill said.
Pro-Yucca Reps. Want To Engage State on Yucca Incentives
The House spending bill also included $5 million in DOE’s Yucca Mountain funding for supporting local communities near the site. As part of the NWPA, local communities receive funding from DOE to help them inform and defend themselves in the licensing process. Last year, Nye County had petitioned DOE for additional funding for Yucca Mountain, but the Department did not include any money in its 2016 budget request.
The $5 million incentive in the bill is part of a larger attempt by pro-Yucca supporters to increase enthusiasm in the state for the project. House Republicans, led by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), have pitched that Nevada should engage in talks for an incentives bill that could increase the state’s willingness to host the project. During Shimkus’ tour of Yucca Mountain last week, he reiterated his hope that the state would enter into discussions for incentives. “We look forward to moving this process forward, and we look forward to working with the state of Nevada as we try to thank them for hosting this national asset,” Shimkus said in a YouTube video set in front of the five mile Yucca tunnel. “We want to make sure that to them, we are willing to work with them on infrastructure, site locations, and movement of materials—anything they want to bring to the table—because this is an important thing for the national security of this country.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who attended last week’s Yucca tour, pointed to infrastructure improvements and state oversight as possible incentives during a press briefing held late last week. Following the tour, Newhouse said his impression was that Yucca Mountain was a “workable site” going forward. “Certainly, [the state] would want to have some type of role in being certain that shipments that enter the state borders would have some type of inspection capability, make sure things are good before they are placed in the repository,” Newhouse said. “There are requirements for this site in regards to infrastructure—a railroad was mentioned as a need in order to move material to the site. If that could be located in such a way that it could be advantageous for economic activity within the state, that would be something that should and could be considered.” He added, “There’s quite a list of considerations and I’m not familiar with all of them, but I want to hear those. If we could address those in legislation moving forward, I think that would be a positive step.”
Yucca Momentum Growing
Besides House Republicans’ efforts to incentivize Nevada, momentum towards nuclear waste policy reform has been growing in Congress since the year began. On the Senate side, Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) 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 next year. Alexander also introduced last month with bi-partisan 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 the Safety Evaluation Report on Yucca Mountain, which found the repository design meets most regulatory safety requirements.
