The Waste Policy Committee of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Panel met this week to hear updates on Congressional action on nuclear waste-related bills and potential changes in federal nuclear waste policies under the new Trump administration.
As the former Vermont Nuclear Power Plant is dismantled, the Citizens Advisory Committee has been researching options for spent nuclear fuel storage.
The Vermont panel invited Amanda Shafer, Democratic California Congressman Mike Levin’s Energy and Environment Legislative Assistant, to discuss the representative’s similar concerns about a reactor in his district.
“My boss represents the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. It’s in the process of decommissioning right now but in the interim the nuclear waste that was generated at the site is literally sitting like right on the Pacific Ocean, right on a fault line, right on a military base and in the middle of some major population centers. It’s really a top priority to have a solution for where this nuclear waste can go,” Shafer explained. “We’re really hoping to drive the dialogue this Congress on this issue.”
Congressman Levin is co-sponsoring the Nuclear Waste Administration Bill that Shafer says would shift federal responsibility for management of nuclear waste out of the Department of Energy to a new agency in order to shield any nuclear waste program from the political process.
“The first thing that this bill would do is establish that new administration to handle nuclear waste. The second pillar of our bill is to provide for a collaborative, consent-based siting process for nuclear waste facilities. And then the third pillar of our bill is to ensure adequate funding for managing nuclear waste,” Shafer said.
Vermont Decommissioning Panel New Hampshire appointee Marvin Resnikoff noted a few problems with the proposal.
“There are two impediments that I see. One is the court has stopped the funding for this nuclear waste fund and secondly the Nuclear Waste Policy Act does not allow temporary storage of nuclear waste,” Resnikoff noted.
The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Advisory Panel received updates from each Congressional office. Senator Bernie Sanders’ Climate Policy Advisor and energy and environment outreach team member Ethan Hinch said it is difficult to predict what the Department of Energy will do as the Trump Administration moves towards advancing nuclear power.
“These are very important and serious complicated questions about what to do with the spent fuel that we’ve produced from generating nuclear power. It’s deeply frustrating to see, you know to Senator Sanders, to see an administration that wants to quote-unquote unleash commercial nuclear power in this country when we don’t have answers,” Hinch said. “When Senator Sanders looks at the issue of nuclear power first and foremost he sees an administration that really wants to expand nuclear power without answering these questions or providing assistance to communities that are dealing with stranded nuclear waste. And that’s a significant issue.”
Senator Peter Welch’s office reported they are working to introduce a revised Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act that would require plant owners and licensees be more financially responsible for nuclear waste storage.
