[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7667-S7668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1996

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, as we reach the final days of the 104th 
Congress, an urgent environmental problem remains unresolved. However, 
unlike many issues, fortunately the question of how to deal with this 
Nation's high-level nuclear waste has an answer that is responsible, 
fair, environmentally friendly and supported by members of both 
parties.
  Today, high level nuclear waste and highly radioactive used nuclear 
fuel is accumulating at more than 80 sites in 41 States. Each year, as 
that increases, our ability to continue storage of this used fuel at 
each of these sites in a safe and responsible way diminishes. The only 
responsible choice is to support legislation that solves this problem 
by safely moving this used fuel to a safe, monitored facility in the 
remote Nevada desert. This answer will lead us to a safer future for 
all Americans.
  To facilitate our consideration of such legislation, yesterday I, 
along with Senator Murkowski, introduced S. 1936, a bill to amend the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, and it was placed on the calendar. S. 
1936 retains the fundamental goals and structure of the substitute for 
S. 1271 that was reported out of the Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee last March.
  However, S. 1936 contains many important clarifications and changes 
that deal with concerns raised regarding the details of that 
legislation by Members of this body. In addition, we took into account 
the provisions of H.R. 1020, which was reported out of the House 
Commerce Committee on an overwhelming bipartisan vote last year. We 
adopted much of the language found in H.R. 1020 in order to make the 
bill as similar to the bill under consideration in the House as 
possible.
  I would like to describe some of the most significant of these 
changes. S.

[[Page S7668]]

1936 eliminates certain provisions contained in S. 1271 that would have 
limited the application of the National Environmental Policy Act to the 
intermodal transfer facility and imposed a general limitation on NEPA's 
application to the Secretary's actions to only those NEPA requirements 
specified in the bill. This was to allay the concern that sufficient 
environmental analysis would not be done under S. 1271.
  S. 1936 clarifies that transportation of spent fuel shall be governed 
by all requirements of Federal, State, and local governments and Indian 
tribes to the same extent that any person engaging in transportation in 
interstate commerce must comply with those requirements. S. 1936 also 
allows that the Secretary provide technical assistance and funds for 
training to Unions with experience in safety training for 
transportation workers. In addition, S. 1936 clarifies that existing 
employee protections in title 49, United States Code in connection with 
refusal to work in hazardous conditions apply to transportation under 
this act. It also provides that certain inspection activities will be 
carried out by carmen and operating crews only if they are adequately 
trained. Finally, S. 1936 provides authority for the Secretary of 
Transportation to establish training standards, as necessary, for 
workers engaged in the transportation, storage and disposal of spent 
fuel and high-level waste.

  In order to ensure that the size and scope of the interim storage 
facility is manageable in the context of the overall nuclear waste 
program, and yet adequate to address the Nation's immediate spent fuel 
storage needs, S. 1936 would limit the size of phase I of the interim 
storage facility to 15,000 metric tons of spent fuel, and the size of 
phase II of the facility to 40,000 metric tons. Phase II of the 
facility would be expandable to 60,000 metric tons if the Secretary 
fails to meet her projected goals with regard to site characterization 
and licensing of the permanent repository site. In contrast, S. 1271 
provided for storage of 20,000 metric tons of spent fuel in phase I and 
100,000 metric tons in phase II.
  Unlike S. 1271, which provided for unlimited use of existing 
facilities at the Nevada Test Site for handling spent fuel at the 
interim facility, S. 1936 allows only the use of those facilities for 
emergency situations during phase I of the interim facility. These 
facilities should not be needed during phase I and construction of new 
facilities will be overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 
any fuel handling during phase II of the interim facility.
  S. 1271 would have set the standard for releases of radioactivity 
from the repository at a maximum annual dose to an average member of 
the general population in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain at 100 
millirem.
  The 100 millirem standard is fully consistent with current national 
and international standards designed to protect public health and 
safety and the environment. While maintaining an initial 100 millirem 
standard, S. 1936 would allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to 
apply another standard if it finds that the standard in the legislation 
would pose an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public.
  S. 1936 contains provisions not found in S. 1271 that would grant 
financial and technical assistance for oversight activities and 
payments in lieu of taxes to affected units of local government and 
Indian tribes within the State of Nevada. S. 1936 also contains new 
provisions transferring certain Bureau of Land Management parcels to 
Nye County, NV.
  In order to ensure that monies collected for the Nuclear Waste Fund 
are utilized for purposes of the Nuclear Waste Program, beginning in 
fiscal year 2003, S. 1936 would convert the current Nuclear Waste Fee 
that is paid by electricity consumers into a user fee that is assessed 
based upon the level of appropriations for the year in which the fee is 
collected.
  Section 408 of S. 1271 provided authority for the Secretary to 
execute emergency relief contracts with certain eligible utilities that 
would provide for qualified entities to ship, store, and condition 
spent nuclear fuel. This provision concerned some who feared it could 
be interpreted to provide new authority for reprocessing in this 
country or abroad. This provision is not contained in S. 1936.
  S. 1271 contained a provision that stated the actions authorized by 
the bill would be governed only by the requirements of the Nuclear 
Waste Policy Act, the Atomic Energy Act and the Hazardous Materials 
Transportation Act. S. 1936 eliminates this provision and instead 
provides that, if any law is inconsistent with the provisions of the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act and the Atomic Energy Act, those acts will 
govern. S. 1936 further provides that any requirement of a State or 
local government is preempted only if complying with the State or local 
requirement and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act is impossible, or if the 
requirement is an obstacle to carrying out the act. This language is 
consistent with the preemption authority found in the existing 
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
  S. 1936 authorizes the Secretary to take title to the fuel at the 
Dairyland Power Cooperative's La Crosse reactor, and authorizes the 
Secretary to pay for the on-site storage of the fuel until DOE removes 
the fuel from the site under terms of the act.
  S. 1936 contains language making a number of changes designed to 
improve the management of the nuclear waste program to ensure the 
program is operated, to the maximum extent possible, in like manner to 
a private business.
  Finally, although we had not reached a final agreement with Senator 
Johnston on language regarding the schedule and conditions for the 
beginning of construction on the interim facility at the time S. 1936 
was filed, the bill contains new language that was drafted in an 
attempt to address Senator Johnston's concerns. The language in S. 1936 
provides that construction shall not begin on an interim storage 
facility at Yucca Mountain before December 31, 1998.
  The bill provides for the delivery of an assessment of the viability 
of the Yucca Mountain site to the President and Congress by the 
Secretary of Energy 6 months before the construction can begin on the 
interim facility. If, based upon the information before him, the 
President determines, in his discretion, that Yucca Mountain is not 
suitable for development as a repository, then the Secretary shall 
cease work on both the interim and permanent repository programs at the 
Yucca Mountain site. The bill further provides that, if the President 
makes such a determination, he shall have 18 months to designate an 
interim storage facility site. If the President fails to designate a 
site, or if a site he has designated has not been approved by Congress 
within 2 years of his determination, the Secretary is instructed to 
construct an interim storage facility at the Yucca Mountain Site.

  This provision ensures that the construction of an interim storage 
facility at the Yucca Mountain site will not occur before the President 
and Congress have had an ample opportunity to review the technical 
assessment of the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site for a 
permanent repository and to designate an alternative site for interim 
storage based upon that technical information. However, this provision 
also ensures that, ultimately, an interim storage facility site will be 
chosen. Without this assurance, we leave open the possibility we will 
find in 1998 we have no interim storage, no permanent repository 
program, and--after more than 15 years and $6 billion spent--that we 
are back to where we started in 1982 when we passed the first version 
of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act .
  This issue provides a clear and simple choice. We can choose to have 
one, remote, safe and secure nuclear waste storage facility. Or, 
through inaction and delay, we can perpetuate the status quo and have 
80 such sites spread across the Nation. It is irresponsible to shirk 
our responsibility to protect the environment and the future for our 
children and grandchildren. This Nation needs to confront its nuclear 
waste problem now. I urge my colleagues to vote for cloture and support 
the passage of S. 1936.

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