BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SJR 23 Hearing Date: 4/19/2016
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|Author: |Bates |
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|Version: |3/28/2016 As Introduced |
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|Urgency: | |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Jay Dickenson, Genesis Tang |
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SUBJECT: Interim Consolidated Storage Act of 2016: San Onofre
Nuclear Generating Station
DIGEST: This resolution urges Congress to pass the Interim
Consolidated Storage Act of 2016 (House of Representatives
(H.R.) 4745) and the United States Department of Energy (US DOE)
to implement the prompt and safe relocation of spent nuclear
fuel from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) to a
licensed and regulated interim consolidated storage facility.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
UNDER FEDERAL LAW: Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) (42
U.S.C. §10101, et seq.):
1)Supports the use of deep geologic repositories for the safe
storage and/or disposal of radioactive waste. Establishes
procedures to evaluate and select sites for geologic
repositories and for the interaction of state and federal
governments.
2)Directs the US DOE to consider Yucca Mountain as the primary
site for the first geologic repository.
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3)Prohibits the US DOE from conducting site specific activities
at a second site unless authorized by Congress.
4)Establishes a commission to study the need and feasibility of
a monitored retrievable storage facility.
UNDER STATE LAW:
1)Prohibits any nuclear fission thermal powerplant requiring the
reprocessing of fuel rods from being permitted unless the
federal government has identified and approved, and there
exists a technology for the construction and operation of,
nuclear fuel rod reprocessing plants. (Public Resources Code
§§25524.1 - 25524.3)
2)States, pursuant to the California Nuclear Facility
Decommissioning Act of 1985, that the citizens of California
should be protected from exposure to radiation from nuclear
facilities. (Public Utilities Code §8321, et seq.)
3)Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to assess
existing scientific studies to determine the vulnerability of
very large generation facilities (1,700 megawatts or greater)
to major disruptions due to aging or major earthquake and the
resulting impacts on reliability, public safety, and the
economy. Requires the CEC, in the absence of a long-term
nuclear waste storage facility, assess the potential state and
local costs and impacts associated with accumulating waste at
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California's nuclear powerplants. (Public Resources Code
§25303)
This resolution urges Congress to pass the Interim Consolidated
Storage Act of 2016 H.R. 4745 and the US DOE to implement the
prompt and safe relocation of spent nuclear fuel from the SONGS
to a licensed and regulated interim consolidated storage
facility.
Background
The United States Congress is currently considering a bill -
H.R. 4745 - that would amend the NWPA of 1982 to authorize the
Secretary of Energy to enter into contracts for the storage of
certain high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and
take title to certain high-level radioactive waste and spent
nuclear fuel. As used in the House bill, the term "interim
consolidated storage facility" means a facility that possesses a
specific license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) that authorizes storage of high-level radioactive waste or
spent nuclear fuel received from the Secretary or from two or
more persons that generate or hold title to high-level
radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel generated at a civilian
nuclear power reactor.<1>
Federal Nuclear Waste Policy. Under the provisions of the NWPA
of 1982, the federal government has responsibility for managing
spent nuclear fuel produced by commercial reactors, and
generators are responsible for bearing the costs of permanent
disposal. The NWPA authorizes and requires the US DOE to locate
and build a permanent repository and an interim storage facility
and to develop a system to safely transport spent fuel from
nuclear power plants to the repository and interim storage
facility.
In 1987, Congress designated Yucca Mountain, a complex of
underground tunnels in Nevada, as a federal long-term geological
repository for nuclear waste. However, the Obama Administration
---------------------------
<1> A bill to create an Interim Consolidated Storage Act 2016,
114th Cong., 2016 H.R. 4745, (accessed April 13, 2016);
available from govtrack.com.
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has decided not to use the site and has appointed the Blue
Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (Commission) to
find a solution for permanent storage. The Commission
recommended that efforts be made to develop a permanent disposal
site for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
Plant owners thus continue to be responsible for the safe
storage of their spent fuel.
Nuclear power in California. There are four nuclear power
plants in California: the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, the
Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant, the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power
Plant, and SONGS, the latter three of which have been closed or
decommissioned.
Natural disaster. According to the 2007 State Working Group on
Earthquake Probabilities, California faces a 99.7 percent chance
of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake during the next 30
years. The likelihood of an even more powerful quake of
magnitude 7.5 or greater in the next 30 years is 46 percent.
According to the powerplant's owner, SONGS is designed to
withstand a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. SONGS is located five
miles away from the Rose Canyon fault, which has the potential
to reach a magnitude 6.9 to 7.2 earthquake.
H.R. 4745 allows nuclear waste from SONGS to be temporarily
stored off-site. If the bill passes, it would (1) allow the
Secretary of Energy to enter into contracts and settle
agreements with NRC-licensed nuclear reactor operators in order
to move used fuel and high level nuclear waste into an interim
consolidated storage facility; (2) provide a priority for
removal of used fuel and high-level nuclear waste for storage at
sites where there is no longer an operating nuclear reactor
(like SONGS); and (3) maintain the principal balance in the
federal Nuclear Waste Fund designated for Yucca Mountain, and
authorize the interest paid on the fund to be used for titles
fees and the safe transportation of the used fuel or high-level
nuclear waste from the decommissioned reactor to the interim
consolidated storage facility.
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Prior/Related Legislation
AJR 29 (Chavez) urges the passage of H.R. 3643 and urges the US
DOE to implement the prompt and safe relocation of spent nuclear
fuel from the SONGS to a licensed and regulated interim
consolidated storage facility. The bill is waiting to be
considered on the Assembly floor.
H.R. 3643 (Michael Conaway, 11th Congressional District, 2015)
amends the NWPA of 1982 to authorize the DOE to enter into new
contracts (or modify existing contracts) with the licensee of an
interim consolidated storage facility in order to take title to
and store in it either high-level radioactive waste or spent
nuclear fuel of domestic origin. The bill is waiting to be
considered in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on
Environment and the Economy.
H.R. 4745 (Mick Mulvaney, 5th Congressional District) amends the
NWPA of 1982 to authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into
contracts for the storage of certain high-level radioactive
waste and spent nuclear fuel and take title to certain
high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. The bill
is waiting to be considered in the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:
No Local:
SUPPORT:
City of San Clemente
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:
For decades, the federal government has made promises to
provide for the safe storage of America's nuclear waste.
The failure of the government to act on its duty to take
possession and provide safe storage of nuclear waste has
beleaguered communities across the nation, including areas
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surrounding SONGS. The waste from the SONGS sits near an
active fault line, adjacent to the heavily-trafficked
Interstate 5 and the Pacific Ocean, and sandwiched between
densely-populated Orange and San Diego Counties.
The Interim Consolidated Storage Act creates an innovative
solution to a long-debated problem. This resolution would
allow regions volunteering to host an interim waste storage
facility to serve the needs of communities around the
country that have nuclear waste.
This resolution would neither replace the Yucca Mountain
plan nor would it take from Yucca Mountain's funding,
taking only from the interest that has accrued to the
Nuclear Waste Fund.
Continuing to kick the can down the road is not a viable
option. The Interim Consolidated Storage Act is a
reasonable, bipartisan step toward making American
communities safer.
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