Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague, Mr. Shimkus, for this important legislation.

This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that, it has already been said, puts our country back on the right track in honoring that commitment that was made by the Federal Government to safely collect and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.

It has been noted here this morning that, under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, Congress assigned the responsibility for spent nuclear fuel to the Federal Government; but today, because the Federal Government has failed to honor this commitment, spent nuclear fuel sits idle in 121 communities across 39 States.

It was back in 1987 that Congress designated Yucca Mountain as the permanent repository for nuclear waste, but despite collecting more than $40 billion from taxpayers, Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository has yet to be completed.

The legislation before us today offers important reforms for our country's nuclear waste policy. It utilizes Yucca Mountain as our main point of nuclear waste storage, while directing the Department of Energy to move forward with a temporary storage program as it works on the Yucca Mountain facility.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague again for his legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3053.

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