The House of Representatives is now considering two pieces of legislation that would provide $15 per kilogram payments to communities stuck with spent reactor fuel at nuclear power plants.
Rep. Joe Courtney’s (D-Conn.) “Stranded Nuclear Waste Accountability Act of 2017” and Rep. Brad Schneider’s (D-Ill.) “STRANDED Act of 2017” were both introduced in the first week of October.
Courtney’s bill only involves the payment plan, excluding language in Schneider’s measure calling for tax incentives for affected communities, establishment of a Department of Energy stranded nuclear waste task force, and a National Academy of Sciences study on “innovative solutions” to the nuclear waste challenge.
The Connecticut lawmaker’s legislation also includes language on payments not found in its counterpart. Both would mandate that the impacted local unit of government be eligible for $15 per kilogram of waste stored at an eligible nuclear power plant in the jurisdiction, with just one payment per fiscal year. However, Courtney would require local governments to apply annually for the program – a directive not spelled out in the Schneider bill. In addition, the energy secretary would, “on a pro rata basis, reduce the amount paid to a unit of general local government … to ensure, to the extent possible, that a payment is made to a unit of general local government with respect to each eligible civilian nuclear power plant for that fiscal year.”
Courtney’s bill is identical to legislation that he co-sponsored in the last Congress with then-Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill.), who lost his seat to Schneider in the 2016 election. It was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Schneider’s bill, directed to the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, has a corresponding measure in the Senate from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
Pasadena, Calif.-based engineering services provider Tetra Tech has received an $85 million contract from the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate uranium contamination at 30 former uranium mines located on and near Navajo Nation land.
The contract also covers training Navajos to provide technical support, data management, and pother work associated with the evaluation and remediation, according to an Oct. 11 EPA press release. The training would be provided in partnership with Navajo Technical University and area businesses.
U.S. nuclear operations during the Cold War led to the opening of more than 500 uranium mines that produced 30 million tons of ore in the Navajo Nation region, which covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The EPA has secured $1.7 billion in funding to start evaluation and cleanup at 211 of the sites.
The Tetra Tech contract has a two-year base period, followed by two option periods of 1.5 years each.
“The EPA is in the initial stages of the Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mine assessment effort. This contract vehicle will be used for in-depth abandoned uranium mine assessments,” EPA spokeswoman Margot Perez-Sullivan said by email Wednesday. “Comprehensive assessments allow the agency to thoroughly understand the extent of contamination and, together with the Navajo Nation EPA, determine the best options for cleanups.”
A $1 billion 2015 settlement for remediation of more than 50 former Kerr McGee Corp. mines is paying for part of the Tetra Tech contract.
