Huge Bipartisan Majority Passes Used Fuel Management Bill in House

• Republicans and Democrats join together to pass bill 340-72
• Passage major victory for Rep. Shimkus; sets up possible Senate legislation later this year
• Bill expedites Yucca Mountain licensing, provides for centralized interim storage

May 10, 2018—The U.S. House of Representatives today made overdue progress toward solving the long-standing issue of used fuel management, with the passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018 (HR 3053) with a bipartisan vote of 340-72.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee, authored the bill “to reform the used fuel management and disposal program to assure its sustainability going forward.” A previous version of the bill passed the committee last year by a vote of 49-4.

The Nuclear Energy Institute lauded the passage of the bill.

“Today’s bipartisan vote represents overdue progress towards solving a longstanding issue. House passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act begins a much needed step forward regarding reform to implement, at long last, the federal government’s statutory obligation to manage used nuclear fuel,” NEI President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Korsnick said.

“Earlier this year we marked a troubling milestone: 20 years of government failure to meet its legal obligation to take possession of used fuel. This abdication of responsibility has harmed electricity consumers and U.S. taxpayers."

The original Nuclear Waste Policy Act became law in 1982, creating a structured program requiring the U.S. Department of Energy to begin removing used fuel from reactor sites in January 1998. To cover the program’s costs, DOE and reactor owners entered into contracts under which owners paid a fee of one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour of nuclear electricity generated into a Nuclear Waste Fund. To date, electricity consumers have paid more than $40 billion into the fund and with interest accruing more than $1.7 billion annually, a balance of more than $38 billion remains.

Since 1987, DOE focused on developing a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, spending approximately $10 billion on the program and submitting a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2008. In 2010, DOE declared Yucca Mountain “unworkable” and unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw its application.

Since DOE missed the January 1998 deadlines, the courts have held the government liable for DOE’s inaction, awarding reactor owners damages for DOE’s failure to meet its January 1998 statutory deadline.

“U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $7 billion in damages, and will continue to pay more than $2 million a day until the federal government moves the fuel from plant sites,” Korsnick noted.

The technical staff of the NRC, after the court ordered it to complete its safety and environmental reviews of DOE’s application, found the repository in compliance with all applicable regulations. The court also ordered DOE to stop collecting Nuclear Waste Fund fees, which it did starting mid-2014.

This bill includes provisions that would move the Yucca Mountain project forward by helping to resolve key issues such as land withdrawal and infrastructure issues.

It would also increase the statutory limit for used fuel to be placed in the repository to 110,000 metric tons from the present 70,000 metric tons and clarify DOE’s authority to advance privately owned consolidated interim storage facilities.

Additionally, it provides a pathway for bringing Nevada and the local communities to the table to discuss benefits associated with these projects.

The legislation also addresses Nuclear Waste Fund fees, preventing DOE from collecting any fees until the NRC issues a final determination on the Yucca Mountain construction authorization application. It also restricts DOE’s fee collections to no more than 90 percent of the amount Congress appropriates for the program in any given year.

Support for the bill came from many stakeholders, including a joint letter to Congress from NEI, the American Public Power Association, the Edison Electric Institute and the National Rural Electric Cooperation Association. Other letters of support were transmitted from labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and North America’s Building Trades Unions.

The Senate has legislation of its own that could be introduced later this year.

“The industry recognizes that the House and Senate have differing views on how to reform the used fuel program. We encourage the two bodies to continue to advance their respective proposals and reach a compromise by the end of the year,” Korsnick said.

“We look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers to reach bipartisan consensus on the best approach for the long-term management of the nation’s used fuel. We urge lawmakers to ensure that resulting legislation protects both electricity consumers and taxpayers.”

For more resources, see NEI’s used nuclear fuel webpage.