[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1859 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 1859

 To terminate the Department of Energy's program to promote the use of 
liquid metal reactors for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 22, 1994

  Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Gregg, and Mr. Bumpers) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To terminate the Department of Energy's program to promote the use of 
liquid metal reactors for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Breeder Reactor Termination Act of 
1994''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the advanced reactor program of the Department of 
        Energy promotes the use of liquid metal reactors for the 
        disposal of high-level radioactive waste through a process 
        referred to as ``actinide recycle'' and for other purposes;
            (2) independent scientific experts believe that liquid 
        metal reactors would greatly increase the cost of radioactive 
        waste disposal and would not provide significant environmental 
        benefits;
            (3) liquid metal reactors are not necessary to preserve the 
        nuclear power option, which will instead depend upon the 
        success of advanced light water reactors;
            (4) arms control experts believe that liquid metal reactors 
        raise grave nuclear proliferation concerns because of the 
        potential for production of plutonium through breeding and 
        reprocessing; and
            (5) the need to reduce the Federal budget deficit demands 
        that budget priorities be established carefully in order to 
        eliminate unnecessary spending.

SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF ADVANCED LIQUID METAL REACTOR PROGRAM.

    (a) Termination.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 
        2121 through 2126 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 
        3081; 42 U.S.C. 13491 et seq.), the Secretary of Energy shall 
        take such actions as are necessary to terminate, as soon as 
        possible, the advanced liquid metal reactor program of the 
        Department of Energy, including the program's promotion of the 
        use of liquid metal reactors for the disposal of high-level 
        radioactive waste.
            (2) Regulatory support.--Termination under paragraph (1) 
        shall include termination of Department of Energy support for 
        regulatory applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
        for design certification for advanced liquid metal reactors or 
        related licensed facilities.
    (b) Reassignment of Personnel.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Secretary of Energy shall, to the extent practicable, reassign the 
personnel of the Department who would be displaced by termination of 
the advanced liquid metal reactor program to other activities of the 
Department, such as nuclear nonproliferation and environmental cleanup 
at facilities of the Department of Energy.
    (c) Use of Savings To Reduce Deficit.--It is the policy of the 
Congress that the savings realized from the termination of the advanced 
liquid metal reactor program should be used to reduce the Federal 
budget deficit.

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