[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6241-S6243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA:
  S. 1878. A bill to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to 
prohibit the licensing of a permanent or interimnuclear waste storage 
facility outside the 50 States or the District of Columbia, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.


       the nuclear waste policy act of 1982 amendment act of 1996

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I am introducing an amendment to the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act to prohibit an interim or permanent nuclear 
waste storage facility outside of the 50 States. My bill would prevent 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing a license to store 
nuclear waste in any of the territories, or on U.S. possessions such as 
Midway Island or Palmyra Atoll.
  Some of my Senate colleagues may wonder whether this is a bill in 
search of a problem that does not exist. Until a few weeks ago, I would 
have never imagined that legislation such as this was necessary. 
However, based on information I have compiled, it is clear that the 
bill I am proposing is urgently needed.
  Earlier this year, the Honolulu papers reported that Palmyra Island, 
a Pacific atoll located 900 miles southwest of Hawaii, was sold to a 
New York investment firm known as KVR, Inc. The reason KVR purchased 
Palmyra has always been vague and uncertain. However, 2 weeks ago 
details of a scheme for Palmyra were uncovered when the island's new 
owners quietly circulated legislation that would direct the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission to issue a license for high-level nuclear fuel 
storage on Palmyra. The State of Hawaii and its delegation in Congress 
strongly oppose this proposal.
  I have recently discovered that Palmyra was not the only island 
targeted for nuclear storage. Midway Island and sites in the Republic 
of the Marshall Islands were also proposed for nuclear waste storage by 
the owners of Palmyra and their associates.
  As more and more information surfaces about the activities of 
Palmyra's new owners, their business associates, and the web of 
corporations they control, the true picture of their scheme emerges. 
When you fit all the pieces of

[[Page S6242]]

the puzzle together, you find that a group of nuclear entrepreneurs 
have been combing the Pacific for the past 2 years, searching for a 
home for their nuclear waste dump. It is an affront to Hawaii and the 
Pacific that they would hatch this scheme and operate in the shadows 
for so long.
  Let me present the facts in greater detail. In October 1994, the 
developers of this nuclear waste initiative wrote the President of the 
Republic of the Marshall Islands to propose that high-level nuclear 
waste be stored in the Marshall Islands. Prior to sending their letter, 
representatives from both sides met in Washington to discuss the 
proposal. In exchange for providing exclusive use of an island for 
storing nuclear fuel, the Republic of the Marshall Islands Government 
would receive $160 million in concession payments as well as a share of 
any profits from the venture.
  Fortunately this initiative did not succeed. The plan to store 
nuclear materials in the Republic of the Marshall Islands was opposed 
by the Clinton administration and prompted Congress to enact 
legislation prohibiting the Department of Energy from negotiating such 
an arrangement with the Republic of the Marshall Islands Government.
  At this point the scheme to build a nuclear waste dump on a low-lying 
Pacific atoll appeared dead. But the proposal resurfaced when a group 
of Washington lobbyists and Wall Street financiers purchased Palmyra 
Atoll earlier this year.
  The bill drafted by the new owners of Palmyra is one of the most 
remarkable legislative proposals I have seen in my 20 years in 
Congress. It is a legislative blank check, granting carte blanche 
authority to the owners of Palmyra to become the world's only, 
privately owned nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing enterprise. This 
proposal would vastly increase the risk of nuclear proliferation by 
placing the critical elements of weapons of mass destruction--plutonium 
and uranium--in private hands.
  The bill directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue a license 
to store 200,000 tons of nuclear fuel on Palmyra. The license shall be 
granted for the maximum period permitted by law. By directing the NRC 
to license nuclear waste storage on Palmyra, the draft legislation 
would circumvent NRC licensing standards and waive environmental, 
engineering, and safety requirements that normally apply to the storage 
of spent nuclear fuel.
  One of the boldest elements of the bill grants the owners of Palmyra 
the exclusive right to determine the scope of activities on the atoll. 
Why should anyone, whether a private individual or an arm of 
government, be granted unfettered authority over an island where 
200,000 tons of nuclear fuel is being stored and reprocessed? This 
would be nuclear madness.
  Another flaw of this proposal is that atolls like Palmyra are 
environmentally sensitive and prone to erosion and extreme weather 
conditions. Eastern Island, the highest point on the atoll, is less 
than 6 feet above sea level.

  Any nuclear material stored at Palmyra would eventually have to be 
relocated. The National Academy of Sciences and the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission have determined that above-ground storage of nuclear 
materials can only be an interim solution. Spent nuclear fuel stored at 
Palmyra would eventually have to be relocated to a permanent storage 
site. If this proposal succeeds, ships carrying spent nuclear fuel from 
all corners of the globe will transect the Pacific to deposit nuclear 
material at Palmyra, only to transport this fuel once again to a 
permanent storage site at another location. If the plan for nuclear 
reprocessing goes forward, the traffic in nuclear cargo would increase 
dramatically.
  The bill further declares that the owners of Palmyra shall have title 
to any nuclear fuel, commencing at the time waste is transferred to 
containers bound for Palmyra. It would summarily select a site for 
storing nuclear waste without scientific or technical evaluation of the 
geologic, hydrologic, seismic or other conditions of the atoll. It 
negates decades of research, planning, and development we have invested 
in achieving an acceptable approach to our nuclear waste problem.
  Of course, in order to achieve this remarkable plan, the bill waives 
the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These 
laws are the hallmark of our Nation's commitment to protecting the 
environment and enjoy broad, bipartisan support. The notion that these 
fundamental environmental laws should be waived during the licensing of 
a high-level nuclear waste storage site is simply irresponsible. The 
American people will never accept such a proposal, no matter how well 
it is sugarcoated.
  The revelation this week that Midway, an island that is part of the 
Hawaiian chain, was also sought by the owners of Palmyra is an 
especially frightening development for the people of Hawaii. In 
December 1995, the chairman of U.S. Fuel and Security requested that 
the Navy allow high-level nuclear fuel storage on Midway Island. U.S. 
Fuel and Security is a company affiliated with the new purchasers of 
Palmyra. The company has a business plan that calls for storing nuclear 
materials on a privately owned island in the Pacific Ocean, which we 
now know to be Palmyra.
  Fortunately, the request was denied and the Navy transferred 
operational control of Midway to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 
May of this year. The purchase of Palmyra was consummated only after it 
became clear that the Navy would not approve the proposal for Midway 
storage.
  Weeks ago, when details first surfaced about establishing a nuclear 
waste dump on Palmyra, it was difficult to believe that there was any 
truth to these proposals. But as I uncovered more and more information, 
I began to realize that this story was fact, and not fiction. This tale 
of nuclear intrigue is like a bad onion. Each time you peel away 
another layer it smells even more. You begin to wonder what else this 
group is up to that we do not know about.
  That is why I am introducing legislation to prohibit the storage of 
nuclear waste in any of the Pacific territories or on U.S. islands such 
as Midway or Palmyra. My bill is a preemptive strike against proposals 
to store nuclear waste on Palmyra. It would shut the door on any 
possibility of turning these Pacific islands into a nuclear waste dump.
  I also want to put the Senate on notice that I am examining 
legislation to transfer jurisdiction of Palmyra, Midway, and five other 
U.S. possessions to the State of Hawaii. This proposal would give 
Hawaii legal authority over, but not title to, these islands.
  When a similar proposal surfaced last year in the House of 
Representatives, legitimate concerns were raised about the potential 
liability associated with such a transfer. In light of efforts to store 
nuclear fuel on some of these islands, I believe that we should revisit 
the idea of placing these Pacific islands, which are geographically 
close to Hawaii, under the State's jurisdiction. I will closely examine 
the question of liability and take steps to ensure that the Federal 
Government is responsible for cleanup of any hazardous or toxic 
substances on these islands, and that the State of Hawaii is 
indemnified from future liability.
  Transferring jurisdiction of islands like Palmyra and Midway to the 
State of Hawaii would mean that our Governor, the State legislature, 
and ultimately the people of Hawaii would have a greater say in 
determining the future of these islands. This legislation could be a 
substitute for, or an addition to, the bill I have introduced today.
  My colleagues, the nuclear era began in the Pacific when the first 
atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Since that time, more than 150 
nuclear devices have been detonated in the region. The United States 
conducted 66 tests in the Marshall Islands and Johnston Atoll during 
the 1940's and 1950's. The British conducted 21 tests on Christmas 
Island and in Australia during the 1950's. The French detonated more 
than 180 devices on Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls under a nuclear 
testing program that began in 1974 and ended in February 1996. The 
environmental consequences of this nuclear legacy are evident 
throughout the Pacific to this day.
  Given the international outpouring of criticism during the recent 
French testing, it is inconceivable that anyone would consider 
establishing the world's largest spent nuclear fuel dump at Palmyra. 
The Pacific has been under assault since the dawn of the nuclear era

[[Page S6243]]

and should not become a future dumping ground for the world's nuclear 
problems. Half a century of nuclear testing is enough.

                          ____________________