Home > 105th Congressional Bills > H.R. 1270 (rh) To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. ...H.R. 1270 (rh) To amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. ...
``SEC. 204. INTERIM STORAGE.
``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary shall design, construct, and
operate a facility for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste at the interim storage facility site. The
interim storage facility shall be subject to licensing pursuant to the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) in accordance with
the Commission's regulations governing the licensing of independent
spent fuel storage installations and shall commence operation in phases
by January 31, 2002. The interim storage facility shall store spent
nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste until the Secretary is
able to transfer such fuel and waste to the repository.
``(b) Design.--The design of the interim storage facility shall
provide for the use of storage technologies licensed or certified by
the Commission for use at the interim storage facility as necessary to
ensure compatibility between the interim storage facility and contract
holders' spent nuclear fuel and facilities, and to facilitate the
Secretary's ability to meet the Secretary's obligations under this Act.
``(c) Licensing.--
``(1) Phases.--The interim storage facility shall be
licensed by the Commission in two phases in order to commence
operations no later than January 31, 2002.
``(2) First phase.--No later than 12 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Commission an application for a license for the first phase of
the interim storage facility. The license issued for the first
phase of the interim storage facility shall have a term of 20
years. The interim storage facility licensed in the first phase
shall have a capacity of not more than 10,000 MTU. The
Commission shall issue a final decision granting or denying the
application for the first phase license no later than 36 months
from the date of the submittal of the application for such
license.
``(3) Second phase.--The Secretary shall submit to the
Commission an application for a license for the second phase
interim storage facility. The license for the second phase
facility shall authorize a storage capacity of 40,000 MTU. The
license for the second phase shall have an initial term of up
to 100 years, and shall be renewable for additional terms upon
application of the Secretary.
``(d) Additional Authority.--
``(1) Construction.--For the purpose of complying with
subsection (a), the Secretary may commence site preparation for
the interim storage facility as soon as practicable after the
date of enactment of this Act and shall commence construction
of the first phase of the interim storage facility subsequent
to submittal of the license application except that the
Commission shall issue an order suspending such construction at
any time if the Commission determines that such construction
poses an unreasonable risk to public health and safety or the
environment. The Commission shall terminate all or part of such
order upon a determination that the Secretary has taken
appropriate action to eliminate such risk.
``(2) Facility use.--Notwithstanding any otherwise
applicable licensing requirement, the Secretary may utilize any
facility owned by the Federal Government on the date of
enactment of this Act and within the boundaries of the interim
storage facility site, in connection with an imminent and
substantial endangerment to public health and safety at the
interim storage facility prior to commencement of operations
during the second phase.
``(e) National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.--
``(1) Preliminary decisionmaking activities.--The
Secretary's activities under this section, including the
selection of a site for the interim storage facility, the
preparation and submittal of any license application, and the
construction and operation of any facility shall be considered
preliminary decisionmaking activities for purposes of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.). No such activity shall require the preparation of an
environmental impact statement under section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C)) or require any environmental review under
subparagraph (E) or (F) of such Act.
``(2) Environmental impact statement.--
``(A) Final decision.--A final decision of the
Commission to grant or deny a license application for
the first or second phase of the interim storage
facility shall be accompanied by an Environmental
Impact Statement prepared under section 102(2)(C) of
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). In preparing such Environmental
Impact Statement, the Commission--
``(i) shall assume that 40,000 MTU will be
stored at the facility; and
``(ii) shall analyze the impacts of the
transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-
level radioactive waste to the interim storage
facility in a generic manner.
``(B) Considerations.--Such Environmental Impact
Statement shall not consider--
``(i) the need for the interim storage
facility, including any individual component
thereof;
``(ii) the time of the initial availability
of the interim storage facility;
``(iii) any alternatives to the storage of
spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive
waste at the interim storage facility;
``(iv) any alternatives to the site of the
facility as designated by the Secretary in
accordance with subsection (a);
``(v) any alternatives to the design
criteria for such facility or any individual
component thereof, as specified by the
Secretary in the license application; or
``(vi) the environmental impacts of the
storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level
radioactive waste at the interim storage
facility beyond the initial term of the license
or the term of the renewal period for which a
license renewal application is made.
``(f) Judicial Review.--Judicial review of the Commission's
environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be consolidated with
judicial review of the Commission's licensing decision. No court shall
have jurisdiction to enjoin the construction or operation of the
interim storage facility prior to its final decision on review of the
Commission's licensing action.
``(g) Waste Confidence.--The Secretary's obligation to construct
and operate the interim storage facility in accordance with this
section and the Secretary's obligation to develop an integrated
management system in accordance with the provisions of this Act, shall
provide sufficient and independent grounds for any further findings by
the Commission of reasonable assurance that spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste will be disposed of safely and on a timely
basis for purposes of the Commission's decision to grant or amend any
license to operate any civilian nuclear power reactor under the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
``(h) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this Act shall affect the
Commission's procedures for the licensing of any technology for the dry
storage of spent nuclear fuel at the site of any civilian nuclear power
reactor as adopted by the Commission under section 218 of the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1982, as in effect prior to the date of the
enactment of this Act. The establishment of such procedures shall not
preclude the licensing, under any applicable procedures or rules of the
Commission in effect prior to such establishment, of any technology for
the storage of civilian spent nuclear fuel at the site of any civilian
nuclear power reactor.
``SEC. 205. PERMANENT DISPOSAL.
``(a) Site Characterization.--
``(1) Guidelines.--The guidelines promulgated by the
Secretary and published at 10 CFR part 960 are annulled and
revoked and the Secretary shall make no assumptions or
conclusions about the licensability of the Yucca Mountain site
as a repository by reference to such guidelines.
``(2) Site characterization activities.--The Secretary
shall carry out appropriate site characterization activities at
the Yucca Mountain site in accordance with the Secretary's
program approach to site characterization if the Secretary
modifies or eliminates those site characterization activities
designed to demonstrate the suitability of the site under the
guidelines referenced in paragraph (1).
``(3) Date.--No later than December 31, 2002, the Secretary
shall apply to the Commission for authorization to construct a
repository that will commence operations no later than January
17, 2010. If, at any time prior to the filing of such
application, the Secretary determines that the Yucca Mountain
site cannot satisfy the Commission's regulations applicable to
the licensing of a geologic repository, the Secretary shall
terminate site characterization activities at the site, notify
Congress and the State of Nevada of the Secretary's
determination and the reasons therefor, and recommend to
Congress not later than 6 months after such determination
further actions, including the enactment of legislation, that
may be needed to manage the Nation's spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste.
``(4) Maximizing capacity.--In developing an application
for authorization to construct the repository, the Secretary
shall seek to maximize the capacity of the repository.
``(b) Licensing.--Within one year of the date of enactment of this
Act, the Commission shall amend its regulations governing the disposal
of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in geologic
repositories to the extent necessary to comply with this Act. Subject
to subsection (c), such regulations shall provide for the licensing of
the repository according to the following procedures:
``(1) Construction authorization.--The Commission shall
grant the Secretary a construction authorization for the
repository upon determining that there is reasonable assurance
that spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste can be
disposed of in the repository--
``(A) in conformity with the Secretary's
application, the provisions of this Act, and the
regulations of the Commission;
``(B) with adequate protection of the health and
safety of the public; and
``(C) consistent with the common defense and
security.
``(2) License.--Following substantial completion of
construction and the filing of any additional information
needed to complete the license application, the Commission
shall issue a license to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste in the repository if the
Commission determines that the repository has been constructed
and will operate--
``(A) in conformity with the Secretary's
application, the provisions of this Act, and the
regulations of the Commission;
``(B) with adequate protection of the health and
safety of the public; and
``(C) consistent with the common defense and
security.
``(3) Closure.--After emplacing spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste in the repository and collecting
sufficient confirmatory data on repository performance to
reasonably confirm the basis for repository closure consistent
with the Commission's regulations applicable to the licensing
of a repository, as modified in accordance with this Act, the
Secretary shall apply to the Commission to amend the license to
permit permanent closure of the repository. The Commission
shall grant such license amendment upon finding that there is
reasonable assurance that the repository can be permanently
closed--
``(A) in conformity with the Secretary's
application to amend the license, the provisions of
this Act, and the regulations of the Commission;
``(B) with adequate protection of the health and
safety of the public; and
``(C) consistent with the common defense and
security.
``(4) Post-closure.--The Secretary shall take those actions
necessary and appropriate at the Yucca Mountain site to prevent
any activity at the site subsequent to repository closure that
poses an unreasonable risk of--
``(A) breaching the repository's engineered or
geologic barriers: or
``(B) increasing the exposure of individual members
of the public to radiation beyond the release standard
established in subsection (d)(1).
``(c) Modification of Repository Licensing Procedure.--The
Commission's regulations shall provide for the modification of the
repository licensing procedure, as appropriate, in the event that the
Secretary seeks a license to permit the emplacement in the repository,
on a retrievable basis, of only that quantity of spent nuclear fuel or
high-level radioactive waste that is necessary to provide the Secretary
with sufficient confirmatory data on repository performance to
reasonably confirm the basis for repository closure consistent with
applicable regulations.
``(d) Licensing Standards.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall not
promulgate, by rule or otherwise, standards for protection of the
public from releases of radioactive materials or radioactivity from the
repository and any such standards existing on the date of enactment of
this Act shall not be incorporated in the Commission's licensing
regulations. The Commission's repository licensing determinations for
the protection of the public shall be based solely on a finding whether
the repository can be operated in conformance with the overall system
performance standard established in paragraph (1)(A) and applied in
accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1)(B). The Commission
shall amend its regulations in accordance with subsection (b) to
incorporate each of the following licensing standards:
``(1) Release standard.--
``(A) Establishment of overall system performance
standard.--The standard for protection of the public
from release of radioactive material or radioactivity
from the repository shall prohibit releases that would
expose an average member of the general population in
the vicinity of the Yucca Mountain site to an annual
dose in excess of 100 millirems unless the Commission,
in consultation with the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, determines by rule
that such standard would not provide for adequate
protection of the health and safety of the public and
establishes by rule another standard which will provide
for adequate protection of the health and safety of the
public. Such standard shall constitute an overall
system performance standard.
``(B) Application of overall system performance
standard.--The Commission shall issue the license if it
finds reasonable assurance that--
``(i) for the first 1,000 years following
the commencement of repository operations, the
overall system performance standard will be met
based on a deterministic or probabilistic
evaluation of the overall performance of the
disposal system; and
``(ii) for the period commencing after the
first 1,000 years of operation of the
repository and terminating at 10,000 years
after the commencement of operation of the
repository, there is likely to be compliance
with the overall system performance standard
based on regulatory insight gained through the
use of a probabilistic integrated performance
model that uses best estimate assumptions,
data, and methods.
``(2) Human intrusion.--The Commission shall assume that,
following repository closure, the inclusion of engineered
barriers and the Secretary's post-closure actions at the Yucca
Mountain site, in accordance with subsection (b)(3), shall be
sufficient to--
``(A) prevent any human activity at the site that
poses an unreasonable risk of breaching the
repository's engineered or geologic barriers; and
``(B) prevent any increase in the exposure of
individual members of the public to radiation beyond
allowable limits as specified in paragraph (1).
``(e) National Environmental Policy Act.--
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