March 27, 2023
The Honorable Senator Joe Manchin
Chair, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
304 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510
The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Chair, Committee on Energy and Commerce
2188 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Senator John Barrasso
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
304 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510
The Honorable Frank Pallone Jr.
Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce
2107 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senators Manchin and Barrasso, Representatives Rodgers and Pallone,
As legislators representing the communities storing commercial spent nuclear fuel stranded in Southern California, we write to urge that with the 118th Congress convened, you continue to prioritize the federal government’s legal and contractual obligation to provide a home for the spent fuel within our state and 33 others across the nation.
The continuing accumulation of spent fuel in California and across the United States is cause for deep concern. Spent fuel can be stored safely at reactor sites for decades, but decommissioning cannot be fully completed and the land restored for other use until the spent fuel is removed. According to the Office of Nuclear Energy’s 2021 Strategic Vision, the Department of Energy is now responsible for the disposal and associated transport of 86,000 metric tons of spent fuel, which is currently stored on-site at 76 operating or shutdown nuclear power plants in 34 states.1 This figure is expected to increase by approximately 2,000 metric tons a year over the next decade, surpassing the 100,000 metric ton mark by 2030. The problem will only continue to grow in coming years, with an anticipated 140,179 metric tons of spent fuel accumulated during the remaining lifetime of existing nuclear power plants across the country. This is more than twice the amount envisioned for the only permanent repository ever approved by Congress.
With the permanent closure of 12 nuclear power reactors over the last decade, there are now 19 communities in the U.S. housing millions of pounds of spent commercial fuel without their consent due to the inability of the federal government to deliver a facility to accept this material.2 Among these are four de facto interim storage sites in California—the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County (located in or adjacent to our districts on Camp Pendleton), the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, the Humboldt Bay Power Plant in Humboldt County and the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station in Sacramento County. Three are located along California’s coastline. Based on current projections, California may soon be among the states with the most stranded spent fuel in the nation.
The cost of inaction to both taxpayers and utility customers is astounding. As a result of the federal government’s failure to meet its obligations to assume title, liability and transportation of the nation’s spent fuel beginning in 1998—some 25 years ago—as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (Public Law 97– 425), the General Accounting Office (GAO) reports that since 2000 all taxpayers in the U.S. have been forced to pay $9 billion in damages for costs incurred to store spent fuel at reactor sites.3 The GAO further reports that “These costs will continue to grow until the federal government develops and approves a consolidated interim storage facility or permanent disposal repository and takes custody of the fuel,” ultimately reaching as much as $30.6 billion. This is in addition to the $46 billion (including interest income) nuclear utility customers pre-paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund for the development of a permanent repository, including $2 billion from California customers.4
Despite decades of delay, we are encouraged by the steps Congress and the DOE have taken in recent years. First, we were heartened to see the DOE’s 2021 Strategic Vision call for the establishment of an integrated waste management system to address the nation’s commercial spent nuclear fuel inventory.5 DOE’s recent report and related $26 million funding opportunity announcement seeking to engage communities in a national discussion regarding a consent-based approach to consolidated interim storage is another positive step.6 7 This progress and future work on federal consolidated interim storage was made possible by the $27.5 million Congress provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (Public Law 116-260). We were also pleased to see the creation of the bipartisan Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus led by Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), which aims to address the challenges associated with stranded commercial spent fuel across the country.8 Additional encouragement can be found in the recent successful international examples of siting in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada, where the process to identify, permit, and construct permanent facilities are well on their way.
The elements of a path forward are well known, having been captured a decade ago in the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future9, Southern California Edison’s Strategic Plan for the Relocation of SONGS Spent Nuclear Fuel to an Offsite Storage Facility or a Repository10 released in March 2021, and the aforementioned GAO report released in September 2021. However, the title of that GAO report best sums up the current challenge—Congressional Action Needed to Break Impasse and Develop a Permanent Disposal Solution. Though nearly 30 bills have been introduced in recent years attempting to resolve the spent fuel problem in part or whole, all have fallen short of the support needed for passage and enactment.
The ultimate success of a long overdue legislative solution relies upon the persistent effort of Congress, the current and future administrations, informed and engaged communities, and other stakeholders eager to work together to solve the problem. Please count us among this group, just as we hope we can count on you to prioritize legislation to address the nation’s spent nuclear fuel storage challenge.
Sincerely,
Assemblywoman Laurie Davies
California Assembly District 74
Senator Janet Nguyen
California Senate District 36
Senator David Min
California Senate District 37
Senator Catherine Blakespear
California Senate District 38
Assemblywoman Diane Dixon
California Assembly District 72
Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath
California Assembly District 77
CC: The Honorable Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) The Honorable Senator Alex Padilla (CA)
California Members on Committee of Jurisdiction and Caucus The Honorable Representative Nanette Barragan (CA-44)
The Honorable Representative Tony Cardenas (CA-29) The Honorable Representative Anna Eshoo (CA-16) The Honorable Representative Mike Levin (CA-49) The Honorable Representative Jay Obernolte (CA-23) The Honorable Representative Doris Matsui (CA-7) The Honorable Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) The Honorable Representative Raul Ruiz (CA-25)
FOOTER:
1. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy 2021 Strategic Vision
2. Congressional Research Service R42853 – Nuclear Energy: Overview of Congressional Issues, Updated October 20, 2021
3. General Accounting Office Report (GAO-21-603), September 2021
4. U.S. Department of Energy
5. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy 2021 Strategic Vision
6. Department of Energy, Consent Based Siting: Request for Information Comment Summary and Analysis, September 2022
7. Department of Energy, Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement, September 20, 2022
9. Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions Caucus Announcement, July 21, 2021
10. Blue Ribbon Commission on American’s Nuclear Future Report to the Secretary of Energy
11. Spent Nuclear Fuel Solutions – A Fresh Approach | SONGS (songscommunity.com)