Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
4/20/2013
The proposed Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill includes a reform to the nation’s nuclear waste policy that would enable the construction of a pilot interim storage facility, Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said during the subcommittee markup this week. This reform would modify the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which designates Yucca Mountain as the only location for a storage facility of high-level waste, and use the $89 million included in the bill to begin construction of one or more consolidated storage facilities. “The bill re-introduces a provision that authorizes DOE to begin a consent-based process for developing one or more consolidated interim storage facilities for nuclear waste,” Feinstein said during the markup. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), ranking member of the subcommittee, also advocated for the launch of a pilot interim storage program, although he still supports Yucca Mountain. “Whether or not we open Yucca Mountain, we still need a second repository and a consolidated site,” Alexander said during the markup. “The pilot program in this bill, which has been approved by the authorizing committee, is a step in the right direction.”
The success of the bill, however, took a turn for the worse late Wednesday night when the full committee markup of the bill, originally scheduled for Thursday morning, was canceled. The bill has gone through the subcommittee markup without much debate, but problems arose when it was introduced to the full committee. The problem, according to Congressional aides, is that an amendment drafted by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that would aim to thwart new Environmental Protection Agency regulations aimed at reducing carbon emissions from coal plants had garnered some support from Democrats and had a chance of passing. It’s unclear when the markup will be rescheduled, but the future of the bill appears to be floundering.
Re-emergence of S-1240
The reform provision in the bill is also meant to act as a catalyst to move forward the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act” bill, introduced last year with bi-partisan support. The bill currently resides in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee where it has sat since then-Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R- Alaska) introduced their co-authored bill last year. Among its provisions, the bill would create a new independent agency to handle the nation’s high level radioactive waste as well as create a consent-based siting approach for interim storage, drawing from some of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. “I am very committed to working with Sen. Alexander and with the primary authorizing committee led by Sen. Landrieu and Sen. Murkowski to advance comprehensive legislation to address serious nuclear waste disposal issues, and implement recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission,” Feinstein said. “We just can’t continue to wait, because nuclear waste is piling up all over this country.”
House’s Focus Still on Yucca Mountain
The House, for its part, has maintained that Yucca Mountain should remain the site for a repository until Congress enacts legislation that directs otherwise, according to the report accompanying its version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill released this week. The House bill includes over $200 million in funds to support the Yucca Mountain licensing review. “The Committee notes that the Department’s proposal has not been considered by Congress, yet the Administration included $79,000,000 in its fiscal year 2015 request for used nuclear fuel disposition, including activities necessary solely as a consequence of the Administration’s Yucca Mountain policy,” the report said. “The recommendation rejects these non-Yucca proposals and makes clear that any activities funded from the Nuclear Waste Fund must be in support of Yucca Mountain.”
The report also attacked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s understanding of the court decision that prompted the Yucca licensing review re-start. The NRC, led by Chair Allison Macfarlane, has stated that the court’s decision requires the use of all funds appropriated for the license review. It does not require, however, that the NRC request additional funding for the review, a sentiment that the report scolded. “The Committee does not share the Administration’s perspective that once Nuclear Waste Fund resources are depleted, the NRC’s responsibility to complete the Yucca Mountain license application is obviated,” the report said. “The NRC is directed to report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than January 1, 2015, on its plan to complete the license application and its additional funding needs as necessary.”
House Bill Increases Used Fuel R&D Funding
The explanation report also revealed that the House bill would include $55 million for used nuclear fuel disposition research and development, up $25 million from Fiscal Year 2014 and $6 million above the DOE budget request. The bill does not include, however, any funding for the $30 million DOE had requested for integrated waste management system activities. “Within available funds, the Committee directs the Department to support research and development of advanced sensors, online monitoring, and other non-destructive evaluation and examination technologies to ensure long-term dry cask storage integrity,” the explanation report said. “Of the funding provided above the budget request for UNFD research and development, $6,000,000 is to support activities to design and certify a railcar or cars for use with licensed and anticipated transportation casks.”
