News Releases

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) won assurance Tuesday that spent nuclear fuel won’t be stored at the Savannah River Site on an interim basis, despite language in the report accompanying the House-passed Energy and Water Appropriations bill, H.R. 2419.

All high level nuclear waste is required by law eventually to be processed and shipped to the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada.  When the Energy and Water appropriations bill came to the House floor this week, it proposed a change to this law, calling for the U.S. Department of Energy to set up interim storage for spent nuclear fuel at several sites, including Savannah River; Hanford, WA; and Idaho.  The report also reinstates plans for nuclear fuel reprocessing.

“The problem with interim storage is that it is not built to last forever, yet interim could very well become permanent,” said Spratt.  “The problem with nuclear fuel recycling is that it generates plutonium, which we don’t need if we want to reduce the risk of nuclear materials falling into the wrong hands.”

On learning of the report language, Spratt filed an amendment to the bill to prevent the Department of Energy from setting an interim nuclear storage facility at Savannah River Site.  Spratt said the Nuclear Waste Policy Act forbids interim storage facilities until Yucca Mountain has been licensed.  “Yucca won’t be up and running any time soon,” said Spratt, “so for the time being, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act bars interim storage--- provided, of course, the Energy and Water appropriations bill does not change the law.”

Spratt’s amendment clarified this point, stating: “None of the funds made available by this Act shall be obligated or expended in contravention of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.” 

Spratt’s amendment drew the attention of the Chairman of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. David Hobson (R-OH).  Hobson assured Spratt in a formal colloquy on the House floor that the Energy and Water bill does not “intend to divert or diminish attention to Yucca Mountain.”  Hobson also stated that the committee’s “guidance is only in report language,” not bill language, and that the Secretary of Energy must “provide Congress with legislative language if he determines that changes to the authorizing statutes are necessary.”  With these assurances, Spratt withdrew his amendment rather than risk losing the issue on a vote of the House.

“This assurance, printed in the Congressional Record, becomes part of the legislative history.  It confirms that despite the committee’s directions in its report, report language cannot override black-letter law---the explicit provisions of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act,” said Spratt.  “It’s an important concession, which says that the law must be changed before interim storage facilities can be sited at Savannah River.”

Spratt said the compromise, while not perfect, was still helpful. “By confirming that a change in the law is needed before interim waste storage can go forward, we ensure hearings and debate in Congress. We have served notice that we are ready to do battle if someone wants to set up interim storage in South Carolina.”

# # #