U.S. in desperate need of comprehensive nuclear waste policy
March 25, 2015 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Bipartisan legislation intended to safeguard and permanently dispose of stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel in the United States has been introduced by U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The fuel has been accumulating at different sites across the country, half of which sits at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, D.C. "Nuclear energy is a vital part of America's energy portfolio and for far too long, the American taxpayer has been on the hook for the federal government's failure to implement an effective plan to handle the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle," said Sen. Murkowski, chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "This legislation is an important step toward advancing the use of nuclear power in America." Nuclear currently produces approximately 60 percent of the nation's electricity. "If we want to continue to have low-cost, clean power from nuclear reactors…then we have to have a place to put the used nuclear fuel. That means we need to end the stalemate over what to do with our country's nuclear waste by finding a way to create both temporary and permanent storage sites that would complement other solutions," said Sen. Alexander, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. "This legislation, which is consistent with the president's Blue Ribbon Commission, would do that by allowing state and local governments to compete for these facilities and the good-paying jobs that come with them." Sen. Feinstein, ranking member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development admits that the "United States desperately needs a comprehensive nuclear waste policy." "Our bill," she explained, "is rooted in a consent-based process, which means interim and permanent facilities will only be sited where they are welcome by state and local governments. The only way a waste policy can work is if the local communities are on board." The Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2015 would establish an independent agency to manage the country's nuclear waste program in place of the Department of Energy, headed by an administrator appointed by the president and subject to Senate confirmation. The agency would be directed to build a pilot storage facility to hold spent fuel from decommissioned nuclear power plants and emergency shipments from operating plants, as well as build consolidated storage facilities for non-priority spent fuel for utilities or defense wastes for DOE on a temporary basis. The legislation would also establish a new working capital fund in the U.S. Treasury, into which the fees collected from utilities would be deposited. These funds would be available to the administration without further appropriation. Fees already collected would remain in the Nuclear Waste Fund, where they would continue to be subject to appropriation. For more: © 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/us-desperate-need-comprehensive-nuclear-waste-policy/2015-03-25 |