BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 to establish a deliberate, collaborative and mandatory process to site, license, build and operate a national permanent nuclear waste repository.
The act obliges the federal government to safely dispose of high-level nuclear defense waste and commercial spent fuel from power plants. Electricity consumers and taxpayers have paid approximately $15 billion to determine if the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada would be a safe repository.
Congress wrote and passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with a sense of urgency so that the process would move forward without delay.
After filing the Yucca Mountain license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2008, the Obama Administration directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to withdraw the application to preclude any future consideration of the Yucca Mountain site.
Such an action by the DOE is contrary to the law. Nothing in the NWPA gives the Administration the authority to terminate licensing for Yucca Mountain.
NRC's own Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which is composed of administrative law judges, determined that such an action was contrary to statute.
Still in 2010, the NRC chairman ordered agency staff to terminate their review and remove key findings from licensing reports documenting their safety review of Yucca Mountain.
Although the Nuclear Waste Policy Act mandated a four-year schedule to review the Yucca Mountain license, five years have elapsed, and the NRC has not issued a final decision on the project.
In response to these actions, the D.C. Circuit has been asked to order the NRC to resume its review of the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain licensing application using funds already appropriated by Congress for that purpose.
On Aug. 3, 2012, the court suspended consideration of the case to see if Congress would change either the Nuclear Waste Policy Act or prior appropriations acts. Congress has done neither, and the court has still not acted.
In the meantime, the Obama Administration announced the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission to consider a path forward for nuclear waste disposal.
The commission report issued in 2012 noted the need for one or more geologic repositories. The commission also recommended that DOE pursue an interim and pilot storage facility as part of the waste disposal system. These facilities add to the overall cost of the waste disposal.
DOE has acknowledged that the siting and construction of a new geologic repository other than Yucca Mountain could take 40 years or more years to complete.
Presumably, another $15 billion will be needed to determine if a new site is safe. During that time, U.S. taxpayers will continue to incur penalties for DOE's failure to remove nuclear waste from utility sites.
Currently, such penalties are projected at $500 million annually with total existing liability already exceeding $15 billion. Additionally, the costs to manage federally owned nuclear waste at federal sites continues to mount.
The U.S. House of Representatives supports the continuation of the Yucca Mountain project. According to Rep. Fred Upton, "The statutory duties of the president and the NRC are clear and appropriated funds are available. The House of Representatives did its part last year by passing a bipartisan amendment by a vote of 326-81 for an additional $10 million so the NRC could continue the licensing process and technical review for Yucca Mountain."
The U.S. Senate, for its part, introduced new legislation aimed at implementing the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission. The legislation is unlikely to get much support in the House. The pending decision of the U.S Circuit Court could weigh heavily on the future direction of Yucca Mountain.
Rex Massey heads the Lander County Yucca Mountain Project. Massey keeps Lander County commissioners informed on Yucca Mountain and how the nuclear waste repository could impact Lander County.[[In-content Ad]]
