[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 232 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 232

To prohibit the importation of certain low-level radioactive waste into 
                           the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 14, 2009

 Mr. Alexander introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the importation of certain low-level radioactive waste into 
                           the United States.

    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 ``Radioactive Import Deterrence Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF IMPORTATION.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 8 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 
U.S.C. 2111 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:
    ``Sec. 85. Importation of Low-Level Radioactive Waste. 
    ``a. Except as provided in subsection b. or c., the Commission 
shall not issue a license authorizing the importation into the United 
States of--
            ``(1) low-level radioactive waste (as defined in section 2 
        of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
        2021b)); or
            ``(2) specific radioactive waste streams exempted from 
        regulation by the Commission under section 10 of the Low-Level 
        Radioactive Waste Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 2021j).
    ``b. Subsection a. shall not apply to--
            ``(1) low-level radioactive waste being returned to a 
        United States Government or military facility which is 
        authorized to possess the material; or
            ``(2) low-level radioactive waste resulting from the use in 
        a foreign country of nuclear material obtained by the foreign 
        user from an entity in the United States that is being returned 
        to the United States for management and disposal.
    ``c. The President may waive the prohibition under this section and 
authorize the grant of a specific license to import materials 
prohibited under subsection a., under the rules of the Commission, only 
after a finding that such importation would meet an important national 
or international policy goal, such as the use of waste for research 
purposes. Such a waiver must specify the policy goal to be achieved, 
how it is to be achieved, and the amount of material to be imported.
    ``d. A license not permitted under this section that was issued 
before the date of enactment of this section may continue in effect 
according to its terms, but may not be extended or amended with respect 
to the amount of material permitted to be imported.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents for the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended by inserting at the end of the 
items relating to chapter 8 the following new item:

``Sec. 85. Importation of low-level radioactive waste.''.
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