Key Senators Move Nuclear Waste Bill

A bipartisan group of four senators introduced legislation in late June to create a process to select a nuclear waste storage site and eventually a final high-level radioactive waste repository. The bill (S. 1240) also would establish a federal agency, separate from the Department of Energy, to manage this waste and direct the site selection process. The new agency would begin by selecting a pilot storage facility to receive spent nuclear fuel while searching for a long-term repository. The bill is intended to comply with recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, a panel that President Barack Obama created after he canceled work at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain geological repository four years ago. Yet to be seen, however, is whether this legislation will gain support from other members of Congress who opposed Obama’s decision to close Yucca Mountain. Bill authors are Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).