Bill Text: MN SF2187 | 2011-2012 | 87th Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Resolution urging the President and Congress to enact legislation and take other federal government action related to interim storage of used nuclear fuel
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-04-18 - Referred to Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance [SF2187 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2011-SF2187-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Resolution urging the President and Congress to enact legislation and take other federal government action related to interim storage of used nuclear fuel
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-04-18 - Referred to Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance [SF2187 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2011-SF2187-Engrossed.html
1.1A resolution
1.2memorializing the President and Congress to enact legislation and take other federal
1.3government action related to interim storage of used nuclear fuel.
1.4WHEREAS, nuclear utility ratepayers in Minnesota and throughout the United States have
1.5contributed more than $30,000,000,000 in fees and interest, as mandated under the Nuclear Waste
1.6Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), for the purpose of removing used nuclear fuel from commercial
1.7reactor sites; and
1.8WHEREAS, the federal government failed to satisfy the NWPA's statutory requirement
1.9to begin accepting used nuclear fuel in 1998 and has failed to meet the terms of its contracts
1.10with United States nuclear plant operators; and
1.11WHEREAS, the 104 operating United States commercial reactors have accumulated some
1.1277,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel; and
1.13WHEREAS, the current administration has terminated and Congress has ceased funding of
1.14all activities related to the license review or further development of a permanent central disposal
1.15repository at the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada, which has been the federal government's
1.16only intended destination for used commercial fuel; and
1.17WHEREAS, there are lawsuits attempting to compel the federal government to meet its
1.18obligations under the NWPA; and
1.19WHEREAS, the current administration in January, 2010, appointed a Blue Ribbon
1.20Commission on America's Nuclear Future comprised of distinguished American scientists and
1.21nuclear policymakers to review various alternative options and make recommendations for future
1.22safe management of United States commercial used nuclear fuel; and
2.1WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Commission has recommended an integrated nuclear fuel
2.2management program incorporating: (1) development of one or more Nuclear Regulatory
2.3Commission-licensed (NRC) private or government-owned centralized interim storage facilities
2.4in communities in states that would willingly host such facilities; (2) continued public
2.5and private sector research, development, and deployment of used fuel and nuclear waste
2.6recycling technologies to close the nuclear fuel cycle in a safe, environmentally responsible,
2.7proliferation-resistant, and economically viable process; and (3) assured access by the nuclear
2.8waste program to revenues generated by consumers' continued payments and to existing balances
2.9in the Nuclear Waste Fund; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.10BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Minnesota that the legislature of the state
2.11of Minnesota calls on the President Obama Administration and the United States Congress to:
2.12(1) adopt legislation enabling the construction of one or more centralized interim fuel
2.13storage facilities through directives to the United States Department of Energy and through
2.14incentives to interested communities funded through access to the accumulated Nuclear Waste
2.15Fund;
2.16(2) recognize there are willing host communities and states that are ready to voluntarily
2.17accept used fuel;
2.18(3) assure access by the Nuclear Waste Management program to the revenues generated by
2.19consumers' continuing fee payments and to the significant balance in the Nuclear Waste Fund; and
2.20(4) enable one or more NRC-licensed private interim storage facilities to meet this public
2.21policy need of the United States.
2.22BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is directed to prepare a
2.23copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and that of the Chair of the Senate
2.24Rules and Administration Committee, and transmit it to the President of the United States, the
2.25Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
2.26Senate, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy.
1.2memorializing the President and Congress to enact legislation and take other federal
1.3government action related to interim storage of used nuclear fuel.
1.4WHEREAS, nuclear utility ratepayers in Minnesota and throughout the United States have
1.5contributed more than $30,000,000,000 in fees and interest, as mandated under the Nuclear Waste
1.6Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), for the purpose of removing used nuclear fuel from commercial
1.7reactor sites; and
1.8WHEREAS, the federal government failed to satisfy the NWPA's statutory requirement
1.9to begin accepting used nuclear fuel in 1998 and has failed to meet the terms of its contracts
1.10with United States nuclear plant operators; and
1.11WHEREAS, the 104 operating United States commercial reactors have accumulated some
1.1277,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel; and
1.13WHEREAS, the current administration has terminated and Congress has ceased funding of
1.14all activities related to the license review or further development of a permanent central disposal
1.15repository at the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada, which has been the federal government's
1.16only intended destination for used commercial fuel; and
1.17WHEREAS, there are lawsuits attempting to compel the federal government to meet its
1.18obligations under the NWPA; and
1.19WHEREAS, the current administration in January, 2010, appointed a Blue Ribbon
1.20Commission on America's Nuclear Future comprised of distinguished American scientists and
1.21nuclear policymakers to review various alternative options and make recommendations for future
1.22safe management of United States commercial used nuclear fuel; and
2.1WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Commission has recommended an integrated nuclear fuel
2.2management program incorporating: (1) development of one or more Nuclear Regulatory
2.3Commission-licensed (NRC) private or government-owned centralized interim storage facilities
2.4in communities in states that would willingly host such facilities; (2) continued public
2.5and private sector research, development, and deployment of used fuel and nuclear waste
2.6recycling technologies to close the nuclear fuel cycle in a safe, environmentally responsible,
2.7proliferation-resistant, and economically viable process; and (3) assured access by the nuclear
2.8waste program to revenues generated by consumers' continued payments and to existing balances
2.9in the Nuclear Waste Fund; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.10BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Minnesota that the legislature of the state
2.11of Minnesota calls on the President Obama Administration and the United States Congress to:
2.12(1) adopt legislation enabling the construction of one or more centralized interim fuel
2.13storage facilities through directives to the United States Department of Energy and through
2.14incentives to interested communities funded through access to the accumulated Nuclear Waste
2.15Fund;
2.16(2) recognize there are willing host communities and states that are ready to voluntarily
2.17accept used fuel;
2.18(3) assure access by the Nuclear Waste Management program to the revenues generated by
2.19consumers' continuing fee payments and to the significant balance in the Nuclear Waste Fund; and
2.20(4) enable one or more NRC-licensed private interim storage facilities to meet this public
2.21policy need of the United States.
2.22BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is directed to prepare a
2.23copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by his signature and that of the Chair of the Senate
2.24Rules and Administration Committee, and transmit it to the President of the United States, the
2.25Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
2.26Senate, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy.
