Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982

Summary

Atomic Energy Act Amendments of 1981 - Title I: Amendments Relating Primarily to Radioactive Waste - Directs the Secretary of Energy to issue guidelines for the recommendation of sites for repositories for the permanent disposal of transuranic waste, high-level radioactive waste, and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Secretary to identify and to recommend to the President, by January 1, 1982, at least two sites suitable for site characterization activities to determine the suitability of such sites for repositories. Requires the identification and recommendation of at least two additional sites by February 1, 1985. Directs the Secretary to: (1) notify the State review board of any State in which a site is located or the Indian tribe on whose reservation a site is located of such recommendation; and (2) hold public hearings in the vicinity of a site before it is recommended for site characterization. Requires the President to: (1) review each site recommendation; (2) either approve or disapprove the recommendation within 60 days; and (3) transmit such decision to the Secretary and the appropriate State review board or Indian tribe. Provides that Presidential failure to approve or disapprove a site within the 60-day period or to invoke authority to delay the determination shall be considered an approval. Requires that, prior to the commencement of site characterization activities, the Secretary shall submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the appropriate State review board or Indian tribe for review: (1) an environmental assessment of the nonradiological impact of such activities; (2) a site characterization plan; and (3) proposals for the form or packaging for the waste and spent fuel which would be emplaced in the repository. Directs the Secretary to conduct tests at sites where characterization activities are being conducted to provide the data needed for a construction authorization application for a repository and for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Sets forth restrictions on the use of radioactive materials during site characterization activities. Requires the Secretary to hold public hearings in the vicinity of each site under consideration as a repository site. Authorizes the Secretary to submit a recommendation for site approval and a site report to the President after completion of site characterization activities and hearings. Directs the President, by March 30, 1987, to recommend to Congress a site qualified as an initial repository. Requires recommendation of another site for an initial repository if Congress disapproves the President's first recommendation. Authorizes the President to submit subsequent site recommendations. Directs the Secretary to submit a construction license application to the NRC and the appropriate State review board or Indian tribe if the President's site recommendation becomes effective. Requires the NRC to submit to Congress a status report on such application within two years of its submission by the Secretary. Requires final NRC approval or disapproval of such application within a specified time. Makes a site designation effective 30 days after the President recommends such site to Congress unless an affected State review board or Indian tribe submits a petition for disapproval of such site designation. Provides that if such petition is submitted, a site designation shall be effective unless Congress passes a resolution approving such petition. Authorizes a State review board to: (1) review activities under this Act to determine the effects of any repository located in the State; (2) represent the State in any NRC proceeding with respect to a repository site in such State; and (3) submit petitions requesting Congress to disapprove repository construction in such State. Directs the Secretary to make grants to the State review boards of each State in which a repository site has been approved to support board activities. Directs the Secretary to consult and cooperate with affected State review boards and 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: (1) review activities under this Act to determine the effects of a repository located on the reservation; and (2) submit petitions requesting Congress to disapprove repository construction. Directs the Secretary to provide funds to any affected Indian tribe for activities pursuant to this Act. Provides for judicial review of agency actions relating to repository site designation and repository construction and operation pursuant to this Act. Requires Federal officers or agencies to issue or grant a certificate, right-of-way, permit, lease, or other authorization related to the characterization, construction, or initial operation of any recommended site at the earliest practicable date. Requires the promulgation of: (1) Environmental Protection Agency standards for the protection of the general environment from radioactive material in repositories; and (2) NRC criteria for reviewing applications for repository construction authorizations. Requires any repository for the disposal of high-level waste and spent fuel to be designed and constructed so that the spent fuel may be retrieved. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1982 to carry out this title. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to Congress proposing fees to be collected to offset all construction, operation, administrative, and other costs incurred in providing for the management, interim storage, and disposal of nuclear wastes and spent fuel. Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to include low-level radioactive waste for purposes of State licensing and regulation requirements (currently State requirements with respect to safety standards and procedures apply to the licensing and regulation of byproduct material). Authorizes the NRC to provide technical assistance to States to help them resolve problems relating to radioactive waste disposal. Applies NRC requirements with respect to ownership and custody of byproduct material and disposal sites to ownership and custody of low-level radioactive waste. Requires the NRC to insure that low-level radioactive waste disposal is carried out in such a way as to protect public health and safety and the environment. Authorizes the NRC to provide for safe low-level radioactive waste disposal at sites located within or near sites designated for hazardous waste disposal or classified as sanitary landfills pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Authorizes the NRC to promulgate rules and regulations designating concentrations or levels of activity for low-level radioactive waste which may be disposed of at such sites. Authorizes the NRC to apply bonding or surety requirements to holders of licenses for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Title II: Modification of Price - Anderson Provisions - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to increase the limit on the standard deferred premium which may be charged under an industry retrospective rating plan following any nuclear incident to not more than $20,000,000 (currently the premium which may be charged cannot be less than $2,000,000 or more than $5,000,000). Provides that deferred premiums shall be payable in equal installments over a period of not less than one year or more than five years. Increases from $500,000,000 to $5,000,000,000 the maximum aggregate indemnity for all persons indemnified by the NRC in connection with a nuclear incident. Reduces the amount of indemnity by the amount of financial protection required of such persons. Limits the maximum aggregate liability of a licensee and other persons resulting from a nuclear incident to the sum of: (1) the financial protection required; and (2) any indemnity provided by the NRC if the persons indemnified are (a) licensees for which the NRC requires financial protection of less than $560,000,000; (b) nonprofit educational institutions; or (c) connected with the nuclear ship Savannah. Increases from $30 to $1,000 per year per thousand kilowatts of thermal energy capacity the indemnity fee which the NRC is authorized to collect from licensees of facilities for which an indemnification agreement is executed. Authorizes the NRC to return to the payee any portion of an indemnity fee collected under such Act after ten years after the date on which the fee was paid. Directs the NRC to survey the causes and damages after any nuclear incident and report its findings to the appropriate Congressional committees, Congressmen and Senators of affected districts and States, and the public (currently such a report is required after any nuclear incident which will probably require indemnification by the United States or probably result in public liability claims in excess of $560,000,000). Increases the statute of limitations for suits based on nuclear incidents from 20 to 40 years for purposes of waiver of defenses. Prohibits the courts from considering claims by the owner or operator of a nuclear reactor until all other claims permitted under such Act have been resolved. Directs the NRC to include in the report required by such Act recommendations with respect to liability issues not already addressed, including issues relating to proof of causation of damages associated with nuclear incidents and the elements of such damages for which compensation should be provided. Title III: Amendments Relating Primarily to Facility Siting and Safety - Requires a determination by the NRC that a licensee meets all requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 before a construction permit and an operating license for a nuclear powerplant may be issued. Makes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) primarily responsible for carrying out functions relating to State and local radiological emergency response planning and preparedness in connection with facilities licensed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 which the FEMA determines have the potential for significant accidental offsite radiological releases. Requires the FEMA to establish criteria for State and local radiological emergency response plans, evaluate such plans, and provide emergency preparedness training to State and local officials. Directs the FEMA to establish, with the NRC's assistance, public information programs on radiological emergency response. Prohibits the issuance of a license for the operation of any utilization or production facility unless: (1) the licensee has in effect a radiological emergency response plan which has been found by the NRC and the FEMA to be adequate to protect public health and safety; (2) adequate State and local emergency plans are in effect in each area which may be substantially affected by a radiological emergency connected with such facility; and (3) the NRC and the FEMA have determined that the general emergency preparedness of the licensee, State and local authorities, and Federal agencies is adequate. Requires the FEMA to review, and report to Congress on, the State and local radiological emergency response plans of States and localities which could be significantly affected by radiological emergencies at facilities licensed before the enactment of this Act. Directs the NRC to report to Congress on alternative safety objectives with respect to nuclear reactors, nuclear material processing, and transportation and storage of nuclear materials. Prohibits the issuance of a limited work authorization or a construction permit for a utilization facility designed for the commercial production of electric energy unless such facility is located in conformity with facility siting regulations promulgated by the NRC. Provides that such regulations shall not apply to facilities for which construction permit applications were filed on or before October 1, 1979. Directs the NRC to provide information and recommendations to State and local land use planning authorities to assist them in making land use decisions which may affect emergency planning in relation to utilization facilities. Provides that the NRC shall not have any authority to preempt any State land use or siting requirement except where a State or local requirement is not identical to, or more stringent than, a NRC requirement relating to the same aspect of facility siting. Requires that any environmental impact statement required in connection with the issuance of an operating license for a facility shall be based on, and incorporate, any environmental impact statement prepared in connection with the issuance of a construction permit for such facility. Prohibits reassessment of certain issues in the statement or at the operating license hearing unless warranted by new facts or circumstances. Directs the NRC to establish a program for funding public participation in Commission rulemaking proceedings. Directs the NRC to make awards of all or part of the costs of participation in NRC proceedings to persons who: (1) present a view or interest which is not adequately presented in the proceeding and which contributes substantially to the consideration of any relevant fact or issue; (2) do not have sufficient resources to participate in the proceeding without an award; and (3) have not acted improperly with respect to such proceeding. Bases the costs of public participation awarded on the appropriations available and the prevailing rates for the services furnished. Permits the NRC to consolidate duplicative presentations and limit compensation awards. Subjects NRC decisions under this program to limited judicial review. Terminates the NRC's authority to make funds available under this program three years after the enactment of this Act, except in the case of award applications made before such termination date. Requires the NRC to report to Congress on the program's impact and effectiveness. Directs the NRC to designate and specifically refer to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards those permit and license applications which it considers most appropriate for review by the Committee (currently the Committee is required to review all such applications). Requires the Committee to report to the NRC on any application which the Committee reviews. Directs the NRC to carry out a survey of, and report to Congress on: (1) the major health and safety requirements applicable to currently operating utilization facilities required to be licensed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; and (2) the extent to which a representative sample of such facilities is in substantial compliance with such requirements. Requires an NRC statement on the effect of such survey on the implementation of the comprehensive plan for systematic safety evaluation of all such facilities. Directs the NRC to establish an independent Temporary Advisory Panel to evaluate: (1) the effectiveness of the nuclear powerplant licensing process with respect to meeting the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; (2) the efficiency of, and the potential for delays in, the licensing process; (3) the stability and predictability in the licensing process; and (4) the opportunity for public participation in the licensing process. Requires the Advisory Panel to submit a report setting forth the results of such evaluation to the NRC and specified House and Senate committees. Terminates the Advisory Panel upon submission of such report. Directs the NRC to submit its views on the Advisory Panel's report to such Congressional committees within 30 days of receipt of such report.

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6 official files

• Public Law (PDF)

  Public Law · EN · 8 January 1983

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• Passed Senate amended

  summary · EN · 20 December 1982

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• Passed House amended

  summary · EN · 2 December 1982

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• Reported to House amended, Part II

  summary · EN · 19 July 1982

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• Reported to House amended, Part I

  summary · EN · 27 April 1982

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• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 4 June 1981

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