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“URGING MEMBERS' SUPPORT OF H.R. 1270, THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1997” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H1409-H1410 on April 10, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
URGING MEMBERS' SUPPORT OF H.R. 1270, THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF
1997
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Idaho [Mr. Crapo] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. CRAPO. Mr. Speaker, I too rise today in support of H.R. 1270, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997. This is very critical legislation that is being dealt with this week in the Senate, legislation that I have worked on now for 4 years with the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Upton], the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert], the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Gutknecht], and many other Members of this House. It is legislation that is so important that we must deal with it this year, and deal with it this year soon.
The Federal Government has a legal responsibility to take used spent fuel in 1998. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in July 1996, that the DOE has a legal obligation to take spent fuel from the Nation's commercial reactors. If the Government fails to perform, the American taxpayers could be forced to cough up more than $50 billion in liabilities.
The Federal Government has not kept faith with its people on this issue. The Department of Energy has broken its promise, indeed its legal obligation, to take used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors beginning on January 31, 1998.
Despite the fact that it has had 15 years to establish a central storage facility, DOE now says it cannot accept the used fuel on time in the 1998 deadline. What is more, absent legislation forcing it to live up to these contractual commitments, DOE does not have any plans to begin taking this used fuel prior to the year 2010.
Electric ratepayers are getting ripped off. Already through their monthly electric bills, ratepayers have paid the Federal Government nearly $13 billion to finance the construction of storage facilities for spent fuel. The Government has taken the money, often spending it for other purposes, but has failed to live up to its commitment to build these storage facilities.
If nuclear power producers have to continue to provide onsite storage because the Government fails to accept and fulfill its responsibility, the ratepayers will end up paying twice. They will pay once, as they have already paid for the construction of the storage facility, and a second time for the cost of storing it onsite.
The cost to ratepayers of providing this additional onsite storage will be billions more. Investors are losing money due to Government inaction. The used fuel crisis is hurting the value of investor-owned utilities that produce nuclear power. The crisis exists not only because the Government clearly intends to violate its contractual obligation to accept the spent fuel, but also because we have military fuel that is stored in States like Idaho that needs to be addressed in similar circumstances.
The uncertainty over whether the Government will dispose of used fuel, if it does at all, is complicating the utilities' planning process. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act makes environmental and economic sense. Used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors and defense facilities is now being stored at 80 sites in 41 different States.
Common sense dictates that storage of nuclear waste in one remote, unpopulated location, where safety and cost efficiencies will be maximized, is the best policy. The legislation itself incorporates amendments to strengthen environmental safeguards.
Nuclear power plants are running out of space to store spent fuel. The Federal Government says its repository will not be ready until the year 2010, at the earliest. But by 1998, 27 of the Nation's 109 nuclear powerplants will run out of onsite storage space and by 2010, 80 nuclear plants will have no space to store the used fuel at all.
Finally, the Department of Energy and the Navy are only obligated to fulfill strict legal obligations to the State of Idaho with regard to spent fuel stored there. The State of Idaho entered into a binding contractual agreement with the Department of Energy and the Navy recently, which has been implemented by court and has become a part of a court order that requires timely deadlines to be met in the transfer of this spent fuel out of the State of Idaho into permanent storage.
The longer the Federal Government fails to proceed timely on its required obligation to accept this spent fuel, the greater the risk these obligations will not be met. This bill will provide for the much needed centralized storage of our Nation's defense high-level waste and spent fuel from our nuclear Navy. This bill goes further than the bill last Congress to address the needs of these facilities, and currently awaits needed action in this House.
Mr. Speaker, the time has come for this House to act promptly and decisively on this issue and send a message to the White House that not only should this legislation not be vetoed, this legislation should be welcomed with open arms, so a critical problem facing America today can be resolved.
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