[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3634

 To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to improve the material 
  control and accounting and data management systems used by civilian 
  nuclear power reactors to better account for spent nuclear fuel and 
   reduce the risks associated with the handling of those materials.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 11, 2006

Mr. Jeffords (for himself and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to improve the material 
  control and accounting and data management systems used by civilian 
  nuclear power reactors to better account for spent nuclear fuel and 
   reduce the risks associated with the handling of those materials.

    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 ``Spent Nuclear Fuel Control and 
Accounting Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) several incidents involving missing or unaccounted-for 
        spent nuclear fuel have occurred at civilian nuclear power 
        reactors, including--
                    (A) the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant;
                    (B) the Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant 
                (California); and
                    (C) the Millstone Nuclear Power Station 
                (Connecticut);
            (2) weaknesses in the accounting and control of spent 
        nuclear fuel have been identified at several other civilian 
        nuclear power reactors;
            (3) data provided by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
        indicate that--
                    (A) operators of most civilian nuclear power 
                reactors have removed spent fuel rods from their fuel 
                assemblies; and
                    (B) those rods are stored onsite in spent fuel 
                pools or dry casks or have been shipped offsite to a 
                storage facility;
            (4) individual spent fuel rods and fragments may also 
        result from the loading of a new assembly and therefore may be 
        new fuel;
            (5) individual spent fuel rods, and especially fragments of 
        spent fuel rods, are--
                    (A) highly radioactive; and
                    (B) much smaller and lighter than fuel assemblies;
            (6) while regulations promulgated by the Nuclear Regulatory 
        Commission require civilian nuclear power reactors to control 
        and account for spent nuclear fuel, they do not cover--
                    (A) individual spent fuel rods that have been 
                removed from an assembly; and
                    (B) fragments of spent fuel rods;
            (7) the storage and oversight of individual spent fuel rods 
        at civilian nuclear power reactors have not been managed in a 
        consistent manner;
            (8) the lack of specific guidance in the regulations 
        promulgated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission relating to 
        how civilian nuclear power reactors should conduct physical 
        inventories has resulted in inconsistent compliance with those 
        regulations;
            (9) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not evaluate the 
        compliance of civilian nuclear power reactors with the material 
        control and accounting regulations promulgated by the 
        Commission;
            (10) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has much to do to 
        implement the recommendations listed in the report published by 
        the Government Accountability Office titled ``NRC Needs to Do 
        More to Ensure that Power Plants Are Effectively Controlling 
        Spent Nuclear Fuel''; and
            (11) the effective implementation of material control and 
        accounting regulations by civilian nuclear power reactors is of 
        great importance to the United States because of the potential 
        safety and security consequences for failing to manage spent 
        nuclear fuel, especially in the aftermath of terrorist attacks 
        in the United States.

SEC. 3. MATERIAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTING OF DISMANTLED FUEL ASSEMBLY.

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is 
amended by adding after section 137 the following:

``SEC. 138. MATERIAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTING OF INDIVIDUAL RODS AND 
              FRAGMENTS FROM A DISMANTLED FUEL ASSEMBLY.

    ``(a) Promulgation of Regulations.--The Commission shall promulgate 
regulations to require each civilian nuclear power reactor to provide 
to the Commission a report that contains a detailed record of each 
individual spent fuel rod, and each fragment of a spent fuel rod, that 
results from the loading or dismantling of a fuel assembly.
    ``(b) Annual Inspection.--The Commission shall promulgate 
regulations to require an annual inspection by the Commission of each 
civilian nuclear power reactor to determine the compliance of the 
civilian nuclear power reactor with regulations relating to the 
material control and accounting of spent nuclear fuel promulgated by 
the Commission.

``SEC. 139. GUIDANCE FOR STORING INDIVIDUAL FUEL RODS AND FRAGMENTS.

    ``The Commission shall develop and make available to each civilian 
nuclear power reactor guidance that describes--
            ``(1) best management practices relating to--
                    ``(A) the procedures that a civilian nuclear power 
                reactor should use to store individual fuel rods and 
                fragments on site; and
                    ``(B) the selection of suitable locations for the 
                storage of individual fuel rods and fragments; and
            ``(2) suitable inventory practices relating to--
                    ``(A) the manner in which a civilian nuclear power 
                reactor should conduct an annual inventory of any spent 
                nuclear fuel, including individual fuel rods and 
                fragments; and
                    ``(B) the manner in which a civilian nuclear power 
                reactor should catalogue each item of spent nuclear 
                fuel, including individual rods and fragments located 
                at the civilian nuclear power reactor.

``SEC. 140. ELECTRONIC DATA MANAGEMENT AND WASTE TRACKING SYSTEM.

    ``(a) Development of System.--The Commission shall develop an 
electronic data management and waste tracking system--
            ``(1) to store and access the records of each civilian 
        nuclear power reactor; and
            ``(2) to track the location of spent nuclear fuel including 
        individual rods and fragments.
    ``(b) Adoption of Electronic Data Management and Waste Tracking 
System by Civilian Nuclear Power Reactors.--The Commission shall 
promulgate regulations to require each civilian nuclear power reactor--
            ``(1) in the case of a civilian nuclear power reactor that 
        is licensed before the date of enactment of this section, to 
        digitize the existing records of the civilian nuclear power 
        reactor; and
            ``(2) in the case of a civilian nuclear power reactor that 
        is licensed on or after the date of enactment of this Act, to 
        implement and use the electronic data management and waste 
        tracking system described in subsection (a).
    ``(c) Evaluation of Existing Electronic Data Management and Waste 
Tracking Systems.--The Commission may evaluate existing electronic data 
management and waste tracking systems to determine whether those 
systems could be modified for purposes of complying with subsection 
(a).''.

SEC. 4. MANIFEST REQUIREMENT FOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 180 the following:

``SEC. 181. MANIFEST REQUIREMENT FOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL.

    ``(a) Development of Manifest.--The Commission shall develop a 
detailed manifest form for the onsite transportation of spent fuel that 
indicates whether the package containing the spent fuel contains 
individual rods or fragments.
    ``(b) Promulgation of Regulations.--The Commission shall promulgate 
regulations to require each civilian nuclear power reactor to provide 
to the Commission a completed detailed manifest form developed under 
subsection (a) to identify and track any spent fuel rod or rod fragment 
that is transported within the premises of the civilian nuclear power 
reactor.

``SEC. 182. IDENTIFICATION OF SPENT FUEL OR ROD FRAGMENTS TRANSPORTED 
              OUTSIDE PREMISES OF CIVILIAN NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS.

    ``The Commission, in consultation with the Department of 
Transportation, shall identify any spent fuel rod or rod fragment that 
is transported outside the premises of the civilian nuclear power 
reactor through use of manifests used by the Department of 
Transportation.''.

SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    The table of contents of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 
U.S.C. 10101 note; 96 Stat. 2201) is amended--
            (1) by adding after the item relating to section 137 the 
        following:

``Sec. 138. Material control and accounting of dismantled fuel 
                            assembly.
``Sec. 139. Guidance for storing spent nuclear fuel.
``Sec. 140. Electronic data management and waste tracking system.''.
            and;
            (2) by adding after the item relating to section 180 the 
        following:

``Sec. 181. Manifest requirement for spent nuclear fuel.
``Sec. 182. Identification of spent fuel or rod fragments transported 
                            outside premises of civilian nuclear power 
                            reactors.''.
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