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“TAXPAYERS ON THE HOOK: THE NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE COUNTDOWN” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Senate section on pages S202-S203 on Jan. 29, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TAXPAYERS ON THE HOOK: THE NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE COUNTDOWN
Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I rise today because after 16 years of denials, delays, and indifference on the part of the U.S. Department of Energy, the American taxpayers are about to find themselves saddled with the liability for our nation's nuclear waste.
It is a liability they do not deserve, and one they most certainly cannot afford. Unfortunately, the President failed to warn them on Tuesday night during his State of the Union address that many of the achievements he acknowledged are at risk--threatened by a federal government failure so massive that it may take the taxpayers years, even decades, to burrow out from underneath it.
What could be so potentially devastating? The failure of the U.S. Department of Energy to begin accepting the nation's spent commercial nuclear fuel.
And, Mr. President, the taxpayers will inherit the responsibility for that failure just three days from now.
At midnight on January 31, 1998, the DOE is required by law to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel from sites across the nation.
The clock was set in motion 16 years ago, upon enactment of the
``Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.''
Since then, utility ratepayers have been required to pay the federal government more than 13 billion of their hard-earned dollars in exchange for the promise that the DOE would develop and build a centralized repository for the safe and efficient storage of spent nuclear fuel.
But that's yet another government promise that won't be kept.
Today, 16 years later--with 7 billion of those ratepayer dollars already spent--the waste is piling up.
Nobody at the DOE wants it--nobody at the DOE is prepared to claim it--and because there's no place to put it, nobody at the DOE would be ready to take it by the January 31st deadline anyway. That's just three days from now.
At the same time energy consumers are pouring billions into the waste fund, ratepayers and utilities are continuing to pay for on-site storage at more than 70 commercial nuclear plants throughout the country.
In other words, ratepayers are being forced to pay twice for nuclear waste storage--all because the Department of Energy has failed to meet its legal obligations to the American people.
Sadly, these costs pale in comparison to the true catastrophe the DOE has in store for the taxpayers beginning just three days from now.
The United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, in a ruling issued on November 14, said that not only is the DOE authorized to begin accepting waste on January 31, but also able to fulfill its contractual obligations to remove it.
By failing to do so, the court ruled, the DOE makes the federal government liable for any damages resulting from even the smallest delay in performance.
And we all know who foots government's bills.
By failing to take possession of the nation's nuclear waste just three days from now, the DOE will in essence make the American taxpayer responsible for those damages.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the estimated cost of storing spent nuclear fuel at power plants across the nation through 2020 is $56 billion, with the federal government--the taxpayers--liable for every dollar.
And when nuclear power plants begin to shut down because the utilities don't have the facilities to store fuel on site, the chain reaction of higher energy costs and lost jobs that are certain to follow represents yet another costly economic consequence of this federal folly.
The impact on the environment of alternative energy sources must also be examined.
How is it possible that all of this will be set into motion just three days from now, and yet it didn't merit a single sentence in the President's State of the Union address?
Mr. President, it's ironic that, while the DOE has failed to meet America's nuclear waste storage needs, the DOE has resumed collecting spent nuclear fuel from a total of 41 other countries under the ``Atoms for Peace'' program.
Similar to the large number of our states which are facing nuclear waste storage problems, countries from around the world are experiencing the same problems. The only difference is that their needs--not our own ratepayers' needs--are being met by our federal government.
In fact, the DOE has completed ``urgent relief'' shipments of spent nuclear fuel assemblies from European nations to the agency's facility at Savannah River. It has also accepted nuclear spent fuel from Latin American countries.
Ultimately, up to 890 foreign research reactor cores will be accepted by the DOE over a 13-year period.
Mr. President, an important point to discuss when it comes to these foreign nuclear waste shipments is how they are transported once they reach the continental United States.
Nuclear assemblies from these 41 countries have been and will continue to be transported by rail and truck to the Savannah River Facility. The safety record of these shipments speaks for itself.
The federal government won't accept commercial spent nuclear fuel, but it's actively accepting nuclear waste from many American universities.
Nuclear waste from research reactors at our finest educational institutions is being accepted at the DOE's Savannah River facility. Again, this nuclear waste is being safely transported by rail and truck across the nation.
These shipments serve as a very small portion of the 2,400 shipments of high-level nuclear waste that have already been shipped across the United States, including naval spent fuel.
So, Mr. President, transportation is no longer a question of technology but becomes one of politics.
I understand the rationale behind reducing our international nuclear dangers by collecting and transporting spent fuel within our borders.
But what I and many others cannot comprehend is how our government has made it a priority to help foreign countries with their nuclear waste problems while simultaneously ignoring the concerns right here in our own country.
Our ratepayers are paying the bill to take care of our own waste problem. Yet that isn't being addressed but our ratepayers and our taxpayers are paying to help foreign countries do the same thing.
The President on Tuesday also failed to mention that the costs of missing the January 31st deadline will be borne as much by grandma and grandpa as they will by any corporate executives or Members of Congress.
He didn't mention that nuclear power is a fuel that burns nothing, thereby helping us achieve cleaner air and a better environment.
He failed to mention that the costs of his global warming treaty will be even higher for every American if we continue to shut down nuclear power plants in favor of coal-burning technologies.
Most regrettably, he failed to offer any kind of explanation into why his administration supports the Department of Energy as they unlawfully stick it to the American taxpayers.
It therefore falls to Congress to step forward and offer a solution.
Along with my colleagues, Senators Murkowski and Craig, I've coauthored legislation that will protect the American public from the costs they face from this impending crisis.
Our bill will reform the current civilian nuclear waste program to avoid the squandering of billions of dollars of ratepayers' and taxpayers' money.
It will eliminate the current need for on-site storage at our nation's nuclear plants, keep plants from shutting down prematurely due to lack of storage space, and maintain stable energy prices.
Our bill will also assure that transportation of nuclear waste will continue to be conducted in a safe manner.
The ``Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997'' passed both houses of Congress last session by overwhelming, bipartisan votes.
While conferees have yet to be appointed, a veto threat from the White House continues to prevent a responsible solution from becoming law.
Again, a veto threat from the White House on this issue continues to prevent the responsible solution from becoming law.
As representatives of the people, it's the responsibility of the government to ensure that every taxpayer dollar entrusted to us is spent in a responsible and meaningful way. In the case of nuclear waste storage, the government has failed this most important of tests.
While the DOE waits, and hides behind courtroom appeals, and shirks responsibilities it is legally bound to accept, Americans across our country can expect yet more rate increases and yet higher taxes from a government that's either too afraid or to incompetent to act.
Just three days from now, who's going to explain that to the taxpayers?
Americans deserve to hear from their leader on this issue. They deserve and expect a rational explanation for the Administration's inaction on their behalf. Silence, Mr. President, is not the answer they so desperately need.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I assume we are in morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are.
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