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Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to express my commitment to make the Nuclear Waste Storage Bill an early priority during the 106th Congress. More than 15 years ago, Congress directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to take responsibility for the disposal of nuclear waste created by commercial nuclear power plants and our nation's defense programs.
Today there are more than 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel that must be dealt with. One year has now passed since the DOE was absolutely obligated under the NWPA of 1982 to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel from utility sites, and DOE is no closer today in coming up with a solution. This is unacceptable. The law is clear, and DOE must meet its obligation. If the Department of Energy does not live up to its responsibility, Congress will act.
I am encouraged that the House of Representatives has begun to address this issue. A bill introduced by Representative FRED UPTON and ED TOWNS of the House's Commerce Committee would set up a temporary storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for this waste until a permanent repository is approved and built. It is good to see bipartisan cosponsors for a safe, practical and workable solution for America's spent fuel storage needs. This solution is certainly more responsible than leaving waste at 105 separate power plants in 34 states across the nation. There are 29 sites which will reach capacity by the end of 1999. All of America's experience in waste management over the last twenty-five years of improving environmental protection has taught Congress that safe, effective waste handling practices entail centralized, permitted, and controlled facilities to gather and manage accumulated waste.
Mr. President, the management of used nuclear fuel should capitalize on this knowledge and experience. Nearly 100 communities have spent fuel sitting in their ``backyard,'' and it needs to be moved. This lack of storage capacity could very possibly cause the closing of several nuclear power plants. These affected plants produce nearly 20% of the United States' electricity. Closing these plants just does not make sense.
Nuclear energy is a significant part of America's energy future, and must remain part of the energy mix. America needs nuclear power to maintain our secure, reliable, and affordable supplies of electricity at the same time the nation addresses increasingly stringent air quality requirements. Nuclear power is one of the best ways America can address those who say global warming is a problem--a subject I'll leave for another day.
Both the House and the Senate passed a bill in the 105th Congress to require the DOE to build this interim storage site in Nevada, but unfortunately this bill never completed the legislative process. I challenge my colleagues in both chambers of the 106th Congress to get this environmental bill done. The citizens, in some 100 communities where fuel is stored today, challenge the Congress to act and get this bill done. This nuclear industry has already committed to the federal government about $15 billion toward building the facility. In fact, the nuclear industry continues to pay about $650 million a year in fees for storage of spent fuel. It is time for the federal government to live up to its commitment. It is time for the federal government to protect those 100 communities.
To ensure that the federal government meets its commitment to states and electricity consumers, the 106th Congress must mandate completion of this program--a program that includes temporary storage, a site for permanent disposal, and a transportation infrastructure to safely move used fuel from plants to the storage facility.
Mr. President, this federal foot dragging is unfortunate and unacceptable, so clearly the only remedy to stopping these continued delays is timely action in the 106th Congress on this legislation.
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