Issa, Conaway introduce nuclear waste storage bill

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Mike Conaway (R-TX) recently introduced the Interim Consolidated Storage Act, a bill that would create a temporary storage solution for the United State’s nuclear waste.

The legislation would allow the Department of Energy to use interest from the Nuclear Waste Fund to contract with temporary storage facilities for used nuclear fuel. If the legislation passes, the government could begin collecting nuclear waste in the next five years.

“Nuclear waste should be stored with the utmost care, but currently, licensed facilities such as Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas, are not able to serve as interim nuclear waste storage sites due to an outdated law and bureaucratic inefficiencies,” Conaway said. “As a result, nuclear utility plants currently have no choice but to store their waste on site. This legislation allows the Department of Energy to cut through the red tape and enter into contracts with these licensed facilities, such as the one in Andrews, ensuring that nuclear waste will be properly stored until a permanent site is established.”

Nuclear waste is currently stored on-site at over 120 facilities in the United States.

“In my district, the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station houses more than 3.6 million pounds of nuclear material right on the coast, along a fault line, on one of the largest U.S. military bases, in the heart of one of our most densely populated communities,” Issa said. “Allowing it to stay there indefinitely is only asking for trouble. This is just one of hundreds of examples of similar sites nationwide.”