Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/27/2015
To start the Yucca Mountain adjudication process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would need $25 million to $30 million in Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations, NRC Chair Steven Burns said this week during a hearing in front of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. The NRC currently has about $4 million in Nuclear Waste Fund appropriations that will most likely be expended by completing the Yucca Mountain Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, leaving the adjudication process unfunded. “My understanding is that I think somewhere in the order of $25 to $30 million might be the amount that would cover agency activities reflecting the resumption of the adjudication for the Fiscal Year 2016,” Burns said. “Again, I think that’s if you have, from my perspective, a willing applicant, because the significant step you are now in is an adjudication, which in normal terms, you expect an advocate for the application like you would in other type of licensing proceedings. Again, the NRC’s role is the licensing authority and the oversight authority of the application.”
The NRC has estimated in the past that the adjudication process could cost an estimated $330 million, although that number is based on a willing applicant defending the license application. The NRC did not request additional Nuclear Waste Fund appropriations in its Fiscal Year 2016 budget request. There are still over 300 contentions filed by Nevada and other parties challenging the repository that need adjudication before a construction authorization permit could be issued, according to the NRC. While the NRC should have enough carry-over funding to finish the EIS, it will not have enough funding to complete the adjudication process. The initial $25 to $30 million, according to Burns, would go towards front-end adjudicatory issues, like securing a venue to host hearings, as well as support services to get the process up and running.
Momentum towards a solution in Congress nuclear waste policy has been growing since the year began. House Republicans, led by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), have announced plans to introduce legislation soon that would incentivize Nevada into hosting a repository, mainly through infrastructure and economic boosts. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, released the Safety Evaluation Report on Yucca Mountain, which found the repository design meets most regulatory safety requirements.
Simpson Calls for Both Yucca and Interim Storage
Chair Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) voiced support for both interim storage and Yucca Mountain during the hearing. “So far, we have knocked them both out when we get to conference, because as Sen. [Diane] Feinstein (D-Calif.) and I discussed it’s not either one or the other, it’s both, as far as the House is concerned, if you are going to do those,” Simpson said. “We all know that if Yucca Mountain were to open tomorrow, we would need additional storage beyond that. I’ve been supportive in moving forward with a pilot program and moving forward with Yucca Mountain.”
