May 19, 2015

Senate Bill Funds Interim Storage, But No Money For Yucca

By ExchangeMonitor

The Senate’s version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill would pave the way for the Department of Energy to consolidate spent nuclear fuel at interim storage sites, including the construction of a DOE pilot facility as well as the use of proposed private facilities in Texas and New Mexico. However, the bill does not fund the Yucca Mountain project. The bill cleared the Subcommittee markup yesterday and will go to the full committee tomorrow for another round of markups.

Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told reporters after the bill markup yesterday that any funding for Yucca Mountain would come through the amendment process when the bill hits the full Senate floor. The bill includes $70 million for DOE’s used fuel disposition program, which includes the beginning stages of constructing a consent-based pilot interim storage facility. “The chances of moving forward with a solution are greater than they have been in recent memory, and this is another bipartisan issue Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein (D-Calif.) and I have worked hard on,” Alexander said. “Our legislation includes a pilot program that Sen. Feinstein suggested and that we have included for the past three years in this bill. They would not take the place of Yucca Mountain–we have more than enough used fuel to fill Yucca Mountain to its legal capacity—but rather complement it.”

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