Minnesota Legislature
HF 2365
as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 02:03am
KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.
1.1A resolution
1.2memorializing the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of
1.3Energy, and the Congress of the United States to review national policy on used
1.4nuclear fuel.
1.5WHEREAS, nuclear utility ratepayers have committed more than $31,000,000,000 in fees
1.6and interest, as mandated under the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, for the purpose of
1.7establishing a permanent repository for storage of used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors and
1.8defense-related high-level radioactive waste; and
1.9WHEREAS, the United States government failed to begin accepting commercial used fuel
1.10by 1998 as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and by contracts with used fuel
1.11owners, and only in 2008 did the United States Department of Energy finally submit an application
1.12to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a permanent used fuel repository; and
1.13WHEREAS, the expected funding levels for the permanent fuel disposal program in the
1.14fiscal year 2009 federal budgets and statements by the federal government concerning the fiscal
1.15year 2010 federal budgets point to continuing chronic delays for the Yucca Mountain repository,
1.16if not the outright termination of the project; and
1.17WHEREAS, the federal government's failure to meet its 1998 statutory and legal
1.18obligations to accept used fuel has led to the federal government's being found in partial breach of
1.19the contracts with nuclear utility owners, leading to federal taxpayer payments to the utilities of
1.20about $1,000,000,000 thus far; and
1.21WHEREAS, in light of the federal government's failure to meet its responsibility, the
1.22commercial nuclear industry has embraced an integrated nuclear fuel management program
1.23incorporating:
2.1(1) continued safe and secure storage of used fuel at commercial plant sites;
2.2(2) development of two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed private or
2.3government-owned centralized interim storage facilities in communities that would host such
2.4facilities voluntarily;
2.5(3) continued public and private sector efforts on research, development, and deployment of
2.6technologies to recycle used fuel in a safe, environmentally responsible, proliferation-resistant,
2.7and commercially viable way; and
2.8(4) continued review of the permanent repository license application by the Nuclear
2.9Regulatory Commission and continued policymaker engagement to ensure the safety and security
2.10of whatever facilities or sites ultimately are chosen for permanent disposal of the by-products of
2.11the once-through or close nuclear fuel cycle; and
2.12WHEREAS, several prominent national state officials' organizations, the National
2.13Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners,
2.14and the American Legislative Exchange Council, have all endorsed immediate establishment of
2.15centralized Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed interim fuel storage facilities in voluntary
2.16host communities and continued research on the recycling of fuel and other advanced fuel
2.17management technologies; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.18BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
2.19and the Congress of the United States to protect nuclear utility ratepayers by immediately reducing
2.20the fee that sustains and overfunds the Nuclear Waste Fund to a level that will cover only the
2.21costs incurred by the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and local Nevada
2.22government units that provide oversight of the permanent used fuel repository program; and
2.23BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges
2.24the United States government to immediately enact legislation expediting the establishment of
2.25two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed, private, or government-owned interim storage
2.26facilities for used commercial nuclear fuel, with community incentives funded by the Nuclear
2.27Waste Fund, and requiring the Department of Energy to take possession of, safely transport, and
2.28store used fuel at these facilities by leasing space at these facilities, and giving first priority to
2.29moving fuel from decommissioned plants; and
2.30BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
2.31United States government to enact legislation creating an independent panel of esteemed public
2.32policy, scientific, environmental, engineering, and affected community leaders that would be
2.33charged with conducting a long-term strategic assessment of the nation's used fuel and defense
3.1waste management practices and developing specific recommendations on how to proceed in the
3.2future while interim storage facilities are being developed; and
3.3BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
3.4directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
3.5States, the United States Secretary of Energy, the President and the Secretary of the United States
3.6Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's
3.7Senators and Representatives in Congress.
1.2memorializing the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of
1.3Energy, and the Congress of the United States to review national policy on used
1.4nuclear fuel.
1.5WHEREAS, nuclear utility ratepayers have committed more than $31,000,000,000 in fees
1.6and interest, as mandated under the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, for the purpose of
1.7establishing a permanent repository for storage of used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors and
1.8defense-related high-level radioactive waste; and
1.9WHEREAS, the United States government failed to begin accepting commercial used fuel
1.10by 1998 as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and by contracts with used fuel
1.11owners, and only in 2008 did the United States Department of Energy finally submit an application
1.12to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a permanent used fuel repository; and
1.13WHEREAS, the expected funding levels for the permanent fuel disposal program in the
1.14fiscal year 2009 federal budgets and statements by the federal government concerning the fiscal
1.15year 2010 federal budgets point to continuing chronic delays for the Yucca Mountain repository,
1.16if not the outright termination of the project; and
1.17WHEREAS, the federal government's failure to meet its 1998 statutory and legal
1.18obligations to accept used fuel has led to the federal government's being found in partial breach of
1.19the contracts with nuclear utility owners, leading to federal taxpayer payments to the utilities of
1.20about $1,000,000,000 thus far; and
1.21WHEREAS, in light of the federal government's failure to meet its responsibility, the
1.22commercial nuclear industry has embraced an integrated nuclear fuel management program
1.23incorporating:
2.1(1) continued safe and secure storage of used fuel at commercial plant sites;
2.2(2) development of two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed private or
2.3government-owned centralized interim storage facilities in communities that would host such
2.4facilities voluntarily;
2.5(3) continued public and private sector efforts on research, development, and deployment of
2.6technologies to recycle used fuel in a safe, environmentally responsible, proliferation-resistant,
2.7and commercially viable way; and
2.8(4) continued review of the permanent repository license application by the Nuclear
2.9Regulatory Commission and continued policymaker engagement to ensure the safety and security
2.10of whatever facilities or sites ultimately are chosen for permanent disposal of the by-products of
2.11the once-through or close nuclear fuel cycle; and
2.12WHEREAS, several prominent national state officials' organizations, the National
2.13Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners,
2.14and the American Legislative Exchange Council, have all endorsed immediate establishment of
2.15centralized Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed interim fuel storage facilities in voluntary
2.16host communities and continued research on the recycling of fuel and other advanced fuel
2.17management technologies; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.18BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
2.19and the Congress of the United States to protect nuclear utility ratepayers by immediately reducing
2.20the fee that sustains and overfunds the Nuclear Waste Fund to a level that will cover only the
2.21costs incurred by the Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and local Nevada
2.22government units that provide oversight of the permanent used fuel repository program; and
2.23BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges
2.24the United States government to immediately enact legislation expediting the establishment of
2.25two Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed, private, or government-owned interim storage
2.26facilities for used commercial nuclear fuel, with community incentives funded by the Nuclear
2.27Waste Fund, and requiring the Department of Energy to take possession of, safely transport, and
2.28store used fuel at these facilities by leasing space at these facilities, and giving first priority to
2.29moving fuel from decommissioned plants; and
2.30BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
2.31United States government to enact legislation creating an independent panel of esteemed public
2.32policy, scientific, environmental, engineering, and affected community leaders that would be
2.33charged with conducting a long-term strategic assessment of the nation's used fuel and defense
3.1waste management practices and developing specific recommendations on how to proceed in the
3.2future while interim storage facilities are being developed; and
3.3BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
3.4directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
3.5States, the United States Secretary of Energy, the President and the Secretary of the United States
3.6Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's
3.7Senators and Representatives in Congress.