Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982

Summary

Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 - Title I: High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Subtitle A: Repositories for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel - Requires the Secretary of Energy, within one year after enactment of this Act, to recommend to the President at least three candidate sites, in at least two different geologic media, which are suitable for site characterization for repositories for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Secretary to recommend at least three additional candidate sites by February 1, 1985. Directs the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which a candidate site is located or the Indian tribe on whose reservation a candidate site is located. Requires the President to: (1) review each candidate site recommendation; (2) either approve or disapprove the recommendation within 60 days; and (3) transmit such decision to the Secretary and to the appropriate Governor or Indian tribe. Provides that the President's failure to approve or disapprove a candidate site within the 60-day period or to invoke authority to delay the determination shall be considered an approval. Directs the President to recommend to Congress by March 31, 1987, a site qualified for repository construction. Permits a 12-month extension of the deadline for such recommendation if, before a specified date, the President (1) decides it is necessary; and (2) sends a report to Congress stating the reasons for the extension. Requires recommendation of another site for a repository if Congress disapproves the President's first recommendation. Authorizes the President to submit subsequent site recommendations. Directs the President, if the site recommendation becomes effective, to submit a construction license application for a repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and to the appropriate Governor or Indian tribe. Requires the NRC to submit to Congress a status report on such application within one year after its submission by the Secretary and annually thereafter, until the construction authorization is granted. Requires that a final environmental impact statement accompany any recommendation by the Secretary for site approval by the President. Authorizes the NRC to adopt such a statement in connection with the issuance of a construction authorization for a repository if it determines the statement is adequate. Permits the NRC to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement when necessary. Makes a site designation effective 90 days after the President recommends such site to Congress, unless the affected Governor or Indian tribe submits to Congress a petition for disapproval of the site designation. Provides that if a dispapproval petition is submitted, a site designation shall be effective, after a specified period, unless Congress passes a resolution disapproving the site designation. Authorizes the Governor of a State to submit a petition for disapproval within 90 days after the President's submission to Congress of a site recommendation. Requires the Secretary to notify the Governor of the State in which is located an Indian reservation on which a repository site is designated whenever the Secretary is required by this Act to notify or consult with the Indian tribe concerned. Directs the Secretary to consult and cooperate with the Governors of affected States and with affected Indian tribes to resolve State and tribal concerns regarding the public health and safety, environmental, and economic impacts of any repository. Authorizes the governing body of any affected Indian tribe to submit a petition for disapproval within 90 days after the President's submission to Congress of a site recommendation. Requires the promulgation of: (1) Environmental Protection Agency standards for the protection of the general environment from offsite releases from radioactive material in repositories; and (2) NRC technical requirements and criteria for reviewing applications for repository construction authorizations, repository operating licenses, and repository closure and decommissioning authorizations. Requires repositories constructed on sites approved under this Act to be designed to permit the retrieval of spent nuclear fuel placed in them. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel of domestic origin with owners or generators of such waste and spent fuel. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing payment charges per unit of such waste and spent fuel to be calculated annually. Provides that persons entering into disposal contracts with the Secretary and any other persons desiring to dispose of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in repositories developed under this Act shall pay a ratable portion of the disposal costs involved. Permits the assignment of the rights and duties of a party to a disposal contract with transfer of title to the spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste involved. Prohibits the disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste owned or generated by a Federal agency in a repository constructed under this Act unless the agency transfers to the Secretary an amount equal to the fees required by any party to a disposal contract. Establishes in the Treasury a Nuclear Waste Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from disposal contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel disposal. Provides that delivery, and acceptance by the Secretary, of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel at a repository constructed under this Act shall constitute a transfer of title to the waste or spent fuel. Subtitle B: Interim Storage Program - Directs the Secretary, the NRC, and other Federal officials to encourage and expedite the effective use of available storage and necessary additional storage at civilian nuclear reactor sites. Requires the Secretary to provide a maximum of 1,700 metric tons of storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with an owner or generator of spent nuclear fuel to provide storage capacity for the spent fuel if: (1) adequate storage capacity cannot be provided at the nuclear power reactor site where the spent fuel is being generated or at any other nuclear power reactor site owned by such person; and (2) such person is pursuing licensed alternatives to Federal storage capacity, with a priority on the expansion of storage facilities at nuclear power reactor sites operated by such person. Requires the removal of spent nuclear fuel stored under the interim storage program as soon as practicable after a repository developed under this Act becomes available. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on plans to provide storage capacity under this Act. Provides that the Secretary's acceptance of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, or transuaranic waste shall not constitute a transfer of title to such fuel or waste. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress a report establishing fees, calculated annually, for storage of spent nuclear fuel. Requires persons entering into storage contracts with the Secretary to pay a pro-rated portion of the storage costs involved. Prohibits the storage of spent nuclear fuel generated or owned by a Federal agency in storage capacity provided under this Act unless the agency transfers to the Secretary an amount equal to the fees required of any party to a storage contract. Establishes in the Treasury the Interim Storage Fund which shall consist of: (1) receipts from storage contracts; (2) appropriations made by Congress to the fund; and (3) any unexpended balances available on the enactment of this Act for functions or activities related to the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Authorizes the Secretary to use the fund to cover the costs of the interim storage program, including: (1) the development, licensing, operation, and decommissioning of interim storage facilities; (2) administrative costs; and (3) design, operation, and construction costs of interim storage facilities. Title II: Other Provisions Relating to Radioactive Waste-Subtitle A: Alternative Means of Financing - Directs the Secretary to study,and report to Congress on, alternative approaches to managing the construction and operation of all civilian radioactive waste management facilities. Subtitle B: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management - Establishes within the Department of Energy an Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management to carry out the functions of the Secretary under this Act. Requires the Director of the Office to report annually to Congress on the activities and expenditures of the Office. Requires the Comptroller General to make an annual audit of the Office and report the results to Congress.

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2 official files

• Reported to House amended, Part I

  summary · EN · 20 August 1982

  Open at official source

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 15 June 1982

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