[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1409-H1410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 URGING MEMBERS' SUPPORT OF H.R. 1270, THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 
                                  1997

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Idaho [Mr. Crapo] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. Speaker, I too rise today in support of H.R. 1270, the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997. This is very critical legislation 
that is being dealt with this week in the Senate, legislation that I 
have worked on now for 4 years with the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. 
Upton], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert], the gentleman from 
Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], and many other Members of this House. It is 
legislation that is so important that we must deal with it this year, 
and deal with it this year soon.
  The Federal Government has a legal responsibility to take used spent 
fuel in 1998. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in July 1996, that the 
DOE has a legal obligation to take spent fuel from the Nation's 
commercial reactors. If the Government fails to perform, the American 
taxpayers could be forced to cough up more than $50 billion in 
liabilities.
  The Federal Government has not kept faith with its people on this 
issue. The Department of Energy has broken its promise, indeed its 
legal obligation, to take used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors 
beginning on January 31, 1998.
  Despite the fact that it has had 15 years to establish a central 
storage facility, DOE now says it cannot accept the used fuel on time 
in the 1998 deadline. What is more, absent legislation forcing it to 
live up to these contractual commitments, DOE does not have any plans 
to begin taking this used fuel prior to the year 2010.
  Electric ratepayers are getting ripped off. Already through their 
monthly electric bills, ratepayers have paid the Federal Government 
nearly $13 billion to finance the construction of storage facilities 
for spent fuel. The Government has taken the money, often spending it 
for other purposes, but has failed to live up to its commitment to 
build these storage facilities.
  If nuclear power producers have to continue to provide onsite storage 
because the Government fails to accept and fulfill its responsibility, 
the ratepayers will end up paying twice. They will pay once, as they 
have already paid for the construction of the storage facility, and a 
second time for the cost of storing it onsite.
  The cost to ratepayers of providing this additional onsite storage 
will be billions more. Investors are losing money due to Government 
inaction. The used fuel crisis is hurting the value of investor-owned 
utilities that produce nuclear power. The crisis exists not only 
because the Government clearly intends to violate its contractual 
obligation to accept the spent fuel, but also because we have military 
fuel that is stored in States like Idaho that needs to be addressed in 
similar circumstances.
  The uncertainty over whether the Government will dispose of used 
fuel, if it does at all, is complicating the utilities' planning 
process. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act makes environmental and economic 
sense. Used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors and defense 
facilities is now being stored at 80 sites in 41 different States.
  Common sense dictates that storage of nuclear waste in one remote, 
unpopulated location, where safety and cost efficiencies will be 
maximized, is the best policy. The legislation itself incorporates 
amendments to strengthen environmental safeguards.
  Nuclear power plants are running out of space to store spent fuel. 
The Federal Government says its repository will not be ready until the 
year 2010, at the earliest. But by 1998, 27 of the Nation's 109 nuclear 
powerplants will run out of onsite storage space and by 2010, 80 
nuclear plants will have no space to store the used fuel at all.
  Finally, the Department of Energy and the Navy are only obligated to 
fulfill strict legal obligations to the State of Idaho with regard to 
spent fuel stored there. The State of Idaho entered into a binding 
contractual agreement with the Department of Energy and the Navy 
recently, which has been implemented by court and has become a part of 
a court order that requires timely deadlines to be met in the transfer 
of this spent fuel out of the State of Idaho into permanent storage.
  The longer the Federal Government fails to proceed timely on its 
required obligation to accept this spent fuel, the greater the risk 
these obligations will

[[Page H1410]]

not be met. This bill will provide for the much needed centralized 
storage of our Nation's defense high-level waste and spent fuel from 
our nuclear Navy. This bill goes further than the bill last Congress to 
address the needs of these facilities, and currently awaits needed 
action in this House.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for this House to act promptly and 
decisively on this issue and send a message to the White House that not 
only should this legislation not be vetoed, this legislation should be 
welcomed with open arms, so a critical problem facing America today can 
be resolved.

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