For the second year in a row, the House of Representatives has approved legislation to reauthorize the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and passed by voice vote March 5, is identical to the measure passed in September before Democrats retook control of the House
The bill authorizes $75 million in annual funding for Department of Energy cleanup at West Valley, well above the $5 million annually in the current authorization language. The legislation also instructs the Government Accountability Office to issue a report within 18 months of enactment clarifying the origins of and disposal pathways for the Western New York Service Center’s nuclear fuel waste.
The passage of H.R. 1138 drew praise from the top Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its environment and climate change subcommittee. Both sides issued statements stressing the importance of protecting the public form radioactive and hazardous wastes.
On March 6, the measure was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
West Valley was once the site of a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. For decades, the Energy Department has said waste at the site is not defense-related because West Valley was not a government nuclear weapons site. But New York state counters that much of the material reprocessed by Nuclear Fuel Services between 1966 and 1972 came from nuclear weapons operations at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
The West Valley Demonstration Project Act of 1980 made DOE responsible for remediation of the facility but did not require the agency to oversee long-term disposal of the nuclear waste.
