Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce legislation to help address one of the glaring issues our domestic nuclear industry faces--what to do with the used nuclear fuel being stored at over 100 sites across the country. I am pleased to be joined by Senator Mary Landrieu in introducing this bill.

Typically, a nuclear power plant stores its used fuel in a spent fuel pool located within the reactor site's exclusion zone. When there is no more room in the pool, and the used fuel is sufficiently cooled, the fuel can be moved to dry cask storage nearby the plant in what are called independent spent fuel storage installations.

Although there are 104 nuclear reactors producing power across the United States, not all have been in operation long enough to fill their spent fuel pools and require dry cask storage. So at present, the are 63 independent spent fuel storage installations at 56 sites in 33 States. Of those, 7 sites are from decommissioned plants. Two decommissioned plant sites still have fuel in their spent fuel pool. That means there are 9 sites, from 10 decommissioned reactors, with 2,800 metric tons of used fuel that is being stored and guarded, whether in dry cask or fuel pools, but no operating power plant nearby. These are orphan sites, and but for the remaining spent fuel the land could be used for other purposes.

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Federal Government is contractually obligated to take title to spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants starting in 1998. Our Government has not fulfilled that requirement and as a result we face continuous lawsuits from the utilities operating those commercial power plants to cover the costs of storing the spent fuel on-site.

According to the Department of Justice, as of June 24, 2011, $1.12 billion has been paid out in settlement of these lawsuits, with an additional $220 million paid in judgments. Another $157 million is authorized, but has not yet been paid in settlement. And $937 million in outstanding judgments remains on appeal or remand. So, the total authorized payment level, so far, is roughly $1.5 billion, with close to another $1 billion dollars in payment going through the legal process. These are not lawsuits that go away once they are settled. Every year that the Government is in breach of its contractual obligation, the same company can bring a similar lawsuit as had been previously settled. As more nuclear power plants fill up their spent fuel pools and turn to dry cask storage, more lawsuits for breach of contract will be filed. The Department of Energy estimates that even if the Government starts to accept the spent fuel by 2021, the total cost of the lawsuits will be $13.1 billion.

While the Government anticipates a liability of $13.1 billion, utilities estimate the final tally could exceed $50 billion. But both the DOE and private sector estimates were developed before the Administration took steps to withdraw the Yucca Mountain application. More recent estimates suggest a cost of $100 billion.

I take special note of what our future liability could be. The Department of Energy expects the Federal Government's liability to increase by $500 million annually if waste is not accepted by 2021--10 years from now. It took us 30 years to get this far on Yucca Mountain. If we are to begin the search for a permanent repository anew, as it appears the Administration would like us to do, it seems increasingly likely the Government's liability costs will greatly exceed the earlier $50 billion estimate. At a time when we are already racking up trillions of dollars in debt for future generations, the administration has freely chosen to incur additional future taxpayer liability in terms of tens of billions of dollars by withdrawing the Yucca Mountain repository license application.

Fortunately for the administration, I have a solution. The Nuclear Fuel Storage Improvement Act of 2011 that I am introducing seeks to establish up to two interim used nuclear fuel storage facilities to centralize the used fuel spread across this nation, end the lawsuits against the Federal Government, and help the domestic nuclear industry, and the communities that host nuclear power plants, partially resolve the long-standing problem of what to do with the used nuclear fuel stored on-site.

The bill would provide financial incentives to a local unit of government, as well as the state in which that unit of government is located, to serve as a host of an interim used nuclear fuel storage facility. The facility itself would be privately owned and operated, and licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but the host entity would be entitled to financial payments from the Federal Government for its willingness to locate the storage facility within its jurisdiction. Up to two locations would be eligible for the financial agreement, funds for which would come from the Nuclear Waste Fund set up by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

Importantly for the Federal Government, under the legislation the Secretary of Energy can contract with the private entity operating an interim storage facility to store used fuel from civilian nuclear power plants. Priority of acceptance is given to the used fuel being stored at plants that have been permanently shut down and decommissioned--the orphan sites. The Secretary is then authorized to enter into an agreement with those which it has contractual obligations to under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, to settle all claims and liabilities for the Government's failure to take title of the used nuclear fuel, thus saving the Government, and future taxpayers, billions of dollars.

I want to be clear. In no way shape or form does this legislation diminish or replace the need for a permanent repository. I have been, and continue to be, supportive of using Yucca Mountain for that purpose. Until such a repository can be opened, however, we have a responsibility to put a plan into action that will consolidate the used fuel sitting at all of these sites across the nation, as well as settle the Federal Government's liability for its failure to take title to that spent fuel, costing the American taxpayer millions of dollars each year. I believe this legislation moves us in that direction.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record,

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