New Nuclear Legislation Introduced by the New Congress

Another set of nuclear legislation has been introduced in the House. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced the Sensible Nuclear Waste Disposition Act, which "prevents the Department of Energy from constructing a new defense waste repository until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made a final decision regarding the outcome of Yucca Mountain."

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Mike Conaway (R-TX) also introduced the Interim Consolidated Storage Act . This bill "would allow the Department of Energy to use interest from the Nuclear Waste Fund to contract temporary storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel and could have the federal government begin collecting waste from nuclear facilities across the country in as little as 5 years." 

Both bills have been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the first step in the legislative process.

Taken from the January 23, 2017 Nuclear Policy Wire