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Summary

Management of civilian radioactive waste has posed difficult issues for Congress since the beginning of the nuclear power industry in the 1950s. Federal policy is based on the premise that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely, but proposed storage and disposal facilities have frequently been challenged on safety, health, and environmental grounds. Although civilian radioactive waste encompasses a wide range of materials, most of the current debate focuses on highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) calls for disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geologic repository. NWPA established an office in the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop such a repository and required the program's civilian costs to be covered by a fee on nuclear-generated electricity, paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund. Amendments to NWPA in 1987 restricted DOE's repository site studies to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. DOE submitted a license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on June 3, 2008, and NRC docketed the application September 8, 2008. The NRC license is to be based on radiation exposure standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which issued revised standards September 30, 2008. The State of Nevada strongly opposes the Yucca Mountain project, disputing DOE's analysis that the repository would meet EPA's standards. Risks cited by repository opponents include excessive water infiltration, earthquakes, volcanoes, and human intrusion. The Obama Administration has decided to "terminate the Yucca Mountain program while developing nuclear waste disposal alternatives," according to the DOE FY2010 budget justification. Alternatives to Yucca Mountain are to be evaluated by a "blue ribbon" panel of experts convened by the Administration. At the same time, according to the justification, the NRC licensing process for the Yucca Mountain repository is to continue, "consistent with the provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act." The FY2010 budget request of $198.6 million for DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management would provide only enough funding to continue the Yucca Mountain licensing process and to evaluate alternative policies, according to DOE. The request is about $90 million below the FY2009 funding level, which was nearly $100 million below the FY2008 level. All work related solely to preparing for construction and operation of the Yucca Mountain repository is being halted, according to the DOE budget justification. The House-passed version of the FY2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3183) approves the Administration's funding cuts but includes a requirement that Yucca Mountain be one of the options considered by the "blue ribbon" nuclear waste panel. The Senate version of the bill also approves the DOE nuclear waste funding cut but does not include the House requirement on the blue-ribbon panel; in addition, the Senate bill would reduce funding for NRC's Yucca Mountain licensing activities. Senator Reid of Nevada, a long-time opponent of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, announced on July 29, 2009, that the Administration had agreed to terminate the Yucca Mountain licensing effort in the FY2011 budget request.

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