<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>memorializing the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>Energy, and the Congress of the United States to review national policy on used <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>nuclear fuel.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>WHEREAS, nuclear utility ratepayers have committed more than $31,000,000,000 in fees <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>and interest, as mandated under the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, for the purpose of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>establishing a permanent repository for storage of used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>defense-related high-level radioactive waste; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>WHEREAS, the United States government failed to begin accepting commercial used fuel <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>by 1998 as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and by contracts with used fuel <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>owners, and only in 2008 did the United States Department of Energy finally submit an application <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a permanent used fuel repository; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>WHEREAS, the expected funding levels for the permanent fuel disposal program in the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>fiscal year 2009 federal budgets and statements by the federal government concerning the fiscal <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>year 2010 federal budgets point to continuing chronic delays for the Yucca Mountain repository, <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>if not the outright termination of the project; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>WHEREAS, the federal government's failure to meet its 1998 statutory and legal <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>obligations to accept used fuel has led to the federal government's being found in partial breach of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>the contracts with nuclear utility owners, leading to federal taxpayer payments to the utilities of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>about $1,000,000,000 thus far; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>WHEREAS, in light of the federal government's failure to meet its responsibility, the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>commercial nuclear industry has embraced an integrated nuclear fuel management program <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.23"></a><var>1.23</var>incorporating:<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>(1) continued safe and secure storage of used fuel at commercial plant sites;<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>(2) development of two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed private or <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>government-owned centralized interim storage facilities in communities that would host such <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>facilities voluntarily;<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>(3) continued public and private sector efforts on research, development, and deployment of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>technologies to recycle used fuel in a safe, environmentally responsible, proliferation-resistant, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>and commercially viable way; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>(4) continued review of the permanent repository license application by the Nuclear <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>Regulatory Commission and continued policymaker engagement to ensure the safety and security <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>of whatever facilities or sites ultimately are chosen for permanent disposal of the by-products of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>the once-through or close nuclear fuel cycle; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>WHEREAS, several prominent national state officials' organizations, the National <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>and the American Legislative Exchange Council, have all endorsed immediate establishment of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>centralized Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed interim fuel storage facilities in voluntary <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>host communities and continued research on the recycling of fuel and other advanced fuel <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>management technologies; NOW, THEREFORE, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>and the Congress of the United States to protect nuclear utility ratepayers by immediately reducing <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>the fee that sustains and overfunds the Nuclear Waste Fund to a level that will cover only the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>costs incurred by the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and local Nevada <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>government units that provide oversight of the permanent used fuel repository program; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>the United States government to immediately enact legislation expediting the establishment of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed, private, or government-owned interim storage <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>facilities for used commercial nuclear fuel, with community incentives funded by the Nuclear <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>Waste Fund, and requiring the Department of Energy to take possession of, safely transport, and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>store used fuel at these facilities by leasing space at these facilities, and giving first priority to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>moving fuel from decommissioned plants; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>United States government to enact legislation creating an independent panel of esteemed public <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.32"></a><var>2.32</var>policy, scientific, environmental, engineering, and affected community leaders that would be <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.33"></a><var>2.33</var>charged with conducting a long-term strategic assessment of the nation's used fuel and defense <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.1"></a><var>3.1</var>waste management practices and developing specific recommendations on how to proceed in the <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.2"></a><var>3.2</var>future while interim storage facilities are being developed; and<br />
         		<a id="pl.3.3"></a><var>3.3</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.4"></a><var>3.4</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.5"></a><var>3.5</var>States, the United States Secretary of Energy, the President and the Secretary of the United States <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.6"></a><var>3.6</var>Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.7"></a><var>3.7</var>Senators and Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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