[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1209 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1209

Expressing disapproval of the House of Representatives with respect to 
     the Department of Energy's motion with the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission to withdraw the license application for a high-level nuclear 
           waste repository at Yucca Mountain with prejudice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2010

 Mr. Inslee (for himself, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. 
   Dicks, Mr. Spratt, Mr. Upton, and Mr. Barrett of South Carolina) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                         on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing disapproval of the House of Representatives with respect to 
     the Department of Energy's motion with the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission to withdraw the license application for a high-level nuclear 
           waste repository at Yucca Mountain with prejudice.

Whereas the Department of Energy filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory 
        Commission to withdraw their Yucca Mountain license application for a 
        high-level nuclear waste repository with prejudice;
Whereas Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) to 
        centralize the long-term management of nuclear waste, including 
        construction of a safe and permanent nuclear waste repository;
Whereas in 1987 Congress amended the NWPA by designating Yucca Mountain as the 
        only option for a long-term storage site by a vote of 237-181 in the 
        House of Representatives and 61-28 in the Senate;
Whereas Congress reaffirmed Yucca Mountain's designation as the only option for 
        a long-term storage site in 2002 by a vote of 306-117 in the House of 
        Representatives and 60-39 in the Senate;
Whereas in 2007 the House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected by a vote 
        of 80-351 an attempt to eliminate funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear 
        waste disposal program;
Whereas, since 1982, consumers of electricity produced at nuclear power plants 
        have paid in excess of $33,000,000,000 into a fund for a waste 
        repository program;
Whereas the Department of Energy has not met the statutory and contractual 
        deadline of January 31, 1998, to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, 
        resulting in 72 breach of contract claims filed against the Department 
        at an approximate liability cost of $1,300,000,000 to date;
Whereas the Department of Energy predicts damages stemming from breach of 
        contract claims will be approximately $12,300,000,000 if the Department 
        is able to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel by 2020 under the current 
        plan, with nuclear utilities estimating the Department's total potential 
        liability being closer to $50,000,000,000;
Whereas the Department of Justice has incurred $150,000,000 on litigation 
        related expenses;
Whereas the total spent for the preparation and construction of a permanent 
        storage site at Yucca Mountain has exceeded $11,200,000,000;
Whereas without the Yucca Mountain repository, current law provides for no other 
        alternative for the permanent or temporary central storage of the 
        Nation's intensely radioactive reactor wastes;
Whereas taxpayers will receive nothing for their substantial investment as a 
        result of the decision to abandon the Yucca Mountain project;
Whereas nuclear materials are stored at 121 locations in 39 States across the 
        country awaiting transport to a permanent repository;
Whereas the Federal Government generated high-level nuclear waste as a part of 
        its national defense program to help end World War II and the Cold War 
        and is currently storing this waste at several sites across the Nation 
        including the Hanford Site in Washington State, the Savannah River Site 
        in South Carolina, and the Idaho National Laboratory;
Whereas the records of decision for the disposal of waste associated with 
        multiple defense related activities have Yucca Mountain as the ultimate 
        disposition site, including waste at many locations across the country 
        storing and processing various types of defense related waste; and
Whereas plans underway to treat and process this waste are based on standards 
        associated specifically with the national repository at Yucca Mountain: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly believes that the decision to abandon the 23-
        year bipartisan project establishing Yucca Mountain as the 
        Nation's primary permanent nuclear waste storage site--
                    (A) breaks a commitment made to certain States 
                nearly 3 decades ago; and
                    (B) goes against the will and intent of Congress by 
                extending the length of time States will be forced to 
                store nuclear waste at significant additional cost to 
                the taxpayers; and
            (2) calls upon the Administration to uphold and comply with 
        the bipartisan commitment passed by Congress and to--
                    (A) cease and desist withdrawing the Yucca Mountain 
                license application from the Nuclear Regulatory 
                Commission with or without prejudice;
                    (B) cease and desist any action to move forward 
                with terminating activities required to complete the 
                Yucca Mountain license application, including the 
                termination of employees supporting the project and 
                termination of any leases housing employees;
                    (C) halt reprogramming of fiscal year 2010 funds 
                appropriated by Congress for the Yucca Mountain license 
                application; and
                    (D) preserve all scientific and site-specific files 
                and data related to Yucca Mountain in accordance with 
                Nuclear Regulatory Commission document controls and 
                quality assurance procedures.
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