The Republican Party has formally announced its intention to revive plans for a national repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
“We will end the Administration’s disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with respect to the long-term storage of nuclear waste,” the 2016 Republican Party Platform states.
The finalized 58-page document was released Monday, after the Republican National Convention kicked off in Cleveland. Donald Trump was officially nominated a day later as the party’s candidate for president, and accepted the nomination on Thursday.
A 1987 amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established Yucca Mountain as the only site to be considered for a national repository. The Obama administration canceled the program in 2011 and last year formally initiated a consent-based siting effort, envisioning operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048.
Waste Control Specialists and Holtec International have announced their intention to operate two separate interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel, respectively in Texas and New Mexico. WCS is planning a facility with the capacity to store 40,000 metric tons of waste, while Holtec’s site would have a 70,000-metric-ton capacity. An estimated 74,000 metric tons of commercial spent fuel has accumulated at American reactor sites as a result of the Department of Energy’s failure to take title to the waste as outlined in the NWPA.
A GOP aide said Tuesday that the Republican Party Platform aligns with the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s position. Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and panel member John Shimkus (R-Ill.) in March urged Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to “expeditiously” restart the Yucca Mountain licensing process.
“The committee is committed to advancing meaningful nuclear waste management policy that includes Yucca Mountain,” the aide said by email.
Upton spokesman Jordan Haverly wrote in an email Tuesday that the congressman “expects the next administration to follow the law and resume the licensing process.”
Upton and Shimkus also sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March, asking the congressional auditor to determine what federal financial resources are available for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license review at Yucca. Findings are expected in the fall at the earliest.
In a hearing earlier this month, Shimkus said he anticipates that Yucca Mountain will receive its operations license, saying: “We’re not here to pre-judge the outcome of the process but rather discuss what Congress should consider when the license is issued.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has led the fight against the repository during his 30-year tenure, has said he doesn’t believe work on Yucca Mountain will resume when he leaves office in January.
It would cost $330 million to finish the license process for the Nevada nuclear waste repository, according to NRC estimates. Since 2013, NRC through May has spent $11.93 million of Nuclear Waste Fund money on the Yucca Mountain licensing process, including more than $8.3 million for completion of the site safety evaluation report and more than $1.5 million for for the supplement to the Yucca Mountain environmental impact statement.
