California Dems push Congress on nuclear waste
By E & E News
A pair of California Democrats expressed frustration Tuesday over Congress' continued failure to address the nation's longterm nuclear waste problem, even as lawmakers advance legislation aimed at further streamlining regulations for new reactor projects.
Reps. Scott Peters and Doris Matsui, whose districts both contain decommissioned nuclear reactors storing spent fuel, said lawmakers are avoiding the more difficult conversation of finding a permanent disposal solution during an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy hearing.
"I think we're gonna have to make the hard choices that we've tried to avoid in Congress," Peters said. "This kind of material just can't sit next to the ocean, next to a military base, next to population centers."
Under current law, the Department of Energy is responsible for developing a permanent underground repository for the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
But the Yucca Mountain project has been effectively stalled for years because of state and local opposition, leaving spent nuclear fuel stored at operating and decommissioned reactor sites across the country. The federal government's failure to take possession of the waste has cost taxpayers billions of dollars over several decades.
Congress has yet to coalesce around, or seriously debate, an alternative long-term storage strategy that would require amending the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
Instead, lawmakers discussed legislation from Peters and Energy Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-Ohio) that would establish a more favorable regulatory framework for facilities that reprocess spent nuclear fuel into reusable reactor fuel.
Many lawmakers from both parties have embraced recycling as a way to reduce the volume of nuclear waste while supplying fuel for future reactors, even though the technology has seen little commercial deployment in the United States.
"The potential for this technology in the United States is great, and this legislation will result in efficient permitting changes to extract additional energy out of used fuel," Latta said.
But both Matsui and Peters stressed that even widespread recycling would not eliminate the need for a permanent repository.
"Many of my colleagues on this committee believe that recycling will solve the waste problem for us, but it remains to be seen whether recycling of spent nuclear fuel will scale in the United States," Matsui said. "Even if nuclear recycling does take off, it won't fully eliminate the waste problem."
Other bills
Despite those concerns, there was broad bipartisan support for the recycling bill and the other nuclear measures considered during the hearing.
The most contentious proposal was a discussion draft of the "Nuclear Advisory Committee Reform Act," which would narrow the role of an Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory panel that reviews reactor safety issues and licensing matters.
Democrats warned the measure could reduce the influence of outside experts from academia and industry on NRC decisions.
Witnesses generally agreed the committee plays an important role but said its responsibilities could be modernized.
"It's a needed body, and I do think focusing it on new and novel issues can be accomplished while still keeping their curiosity and engagement on new processes," said Maria Korsnick, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Democratic support for the Republican-backed bills may hinge on whether committee leadership works with subcommittee ranking member Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) on her "Department of Energy Nuclear Transparency Act."
The bill would require the Energy secretary to publicly post reports within 24 hours whenever the department changes a nuclear safety regulation or conducts a reactor safety study.
"Rep. Castor's bill would finally force DOE to be transparent about its efforts — transparency that is long overdue and absolutely crucial to being able to consider anything else," a spokesperson for full committee ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said.