The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said on Tuesday that there may be potential progress in the future of managing high-level waste and used nuclear fuel.
This hopeful outlook is fueled by a bipartisan Senate bill to reform the waste management program and recent remarks from
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.
Moniz said that he has outlined a consent-based process that will support the work and development of an interim consolidated storage and eventual defense waste repository for used nuclear fuel.
“The nuclear energy industry welcomes (the) developments for the potential they hold to finally bring some progress to the nation’s long-neglected nuclear waste management policy,” NEI President and CEO Marvin Fertel said. “The bipartisan Senate legislation is a solid first step toward implementation of a sustainable, integrated program to safely and efficiently manage commercial used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from U.S. defense programs. NEI applauds Sens. (Lisa) Murkowski (R-AK), (Maria) Cantwell (D-WA), (Lamar) Alexander (R-TN) and (Dianne) Feinstein (D-CA) for their commitment and determination to achieve much-needed reform on a bipartisan basis. NEI looks forward to hearings and, hopefully, markup of this legislation and pledges to offer suggestions to improve the legislation where we see the need.
“Responsible stewardship of used nuclear fuel from the production of electricity with nuclear energy is a priority for our industry and should be for the federal government,” Fertel said.
