US Senate bill would require at-reactor nuclear waste storage

Washington (Platts)--14Dec2005

Nevada's two US senators--Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Republican 
John Ensign Wednesday introduced legislation that would require the Dept of
Energy to take title to nuclear waste accumulating at nuclear power
reactors around the US and store it indefinitely in casks at those
sites.

     Reid and Ensign plan to promote the bill when the second session of the
109th Congress convenes in January, a Reid spokeswoman said. Utah Republican
Sens Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett co-sponsored the bill. 

     The measure would require contractors hired by the utilities, at DOE's
expense, to transfer spent fuel from storage pools into casks approved by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The transfer would have to occur within six
years of the bill's enactment or six years of the waste's existence, whichever
occurs first. The casks would be kept at the reactor sites, with DOE
responsible for maintaining and monitoring the storage facilities.

     "The Yucca Mountain project is never going to open. It is time we put the
safety of this country first and approach the storage of nuclear waste in a
way that is productive and realistic," Reid said in a statement. "Storing
nuclear waste on-site is the safest, most reasonable and most effective way of
allowing nuclear power companies to continue operating while keeping the
health and safety of Americans as our top priority," he added. 

     In the House, Rep Jim Matheson (Democrat-Utah) planned to introduce an
identical bill Wednesday, his spokeswoman said. "If Yucca Mountain's not the
solution, he's hopeful people are starting to recognize this is the best way
to go," she said of his bill.

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