42 U.S.C. § 10142 — Disposal of spent nuclear fuel

Page 7993 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 10151 study to provide, by not later than December 31, 1993, findings and recommendations on reasonable stand- ards for protection of the public health and safety, in- cluding— ‘‘(A) whether a health-based standard based upon doses to individual members of the public from re- leases to the accessible environment (as that term is defined in the regulations contained in subpart B of part 191 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on November 18, 1985) will provide a rea- sonable standard for protection of the health and safety of the general public; ‘‘(B) whether it is reasonable to assume that a system for post-closure oversight of the repository can be developed, based upon active institutional controls, that will prevent an unreasonable risk of breaching the repository’s engineered or geologic barriers or increasing the exposure of individual members of the public to radiation beyond allow- able limits; and ‘‘(C) whether it is possible to make scientifically supportable predictions of the probability that the repository’s engineered or geologic barriers will be breached as a result of human intrusion over a pe- riod of 10,000 years. ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—The provisions of this section shall apply to the Yucca Mountain site, rather than any other authority of the Administrator to set gen- erally applicable standards for radiation protection. ‘‘(b) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA.— ‘‘(1) MODIFICATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the Administrator promulgates standards under sub- section (a), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall, by rule, modify its technical requirements and criteria under section 121(b) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10141(b)), as necessary, to be consistent with the Administrator’s standards pro- mulgated under subsection (a). ‘‘(2) REQUIRED ASSUMPTIONS.—The Commission’s re- quirements and criteria shall assume, to the extent consistent with the findings and recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, that, following re- pository closure, the inclusion of engineered barriers and the Secretary’s post-closure oversight of the Yucca Mountain site, in accordance with subsection (c), shall be sufficient to— ‘‘(A) prevent any activity at the site that poses an unreasonable risk of breaching the repository’s engineered or geologic barriers; and ‘‘(B) prevent any increase in the exposure of indi- vidual members of the public to radiation beyond allowable limits. ‘‘(c) POST-CLOSURE OVERSIGHT.—Following repository closure, the Secretary of Energy shall continue to over- see the Yucca Mountain site to prevent any activity at the site that poses an unreasonable risk of— ‘‘(1) breaching the repository’s engineered or geo- logic barriers; or ‘‘(2) increasing the exposure of individual members of the public to radiation beyond allowable limits.’’ § 10142. Disposal of spent nuclear fuel Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, any repository constructed on a site ap- proved under this part shall be designed and constructed to permit the retrieval of any spent nuclear fuel placed in such repository, during an appropriate period of operation of the facility, for any reason pertaining to the public health and safety, or the environment, or for the pur- pose of permitting the recovery of the economi- cally valuable contents of such spent fuel. The Secretary shall specify the appropriate period of retrievability with respect to any repository at the time of design of such repository, and such aspect of such repository shall be subject to ap- proval or disapproval by the Commission as part of the construction authorization process under subsections (b) through (d) of section 10134 of this title. (Pub. L. 97–425, title I, § 122, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2228.) § 10143. Title to material Delivery, and acceptance by the Secretary, of any high-level radioactive waste or spent nu- clear fuel for a repository constructed under this part shall constitute a transfer to the Sec- retary of title to such waste or spent fuel. (Pub. L. 97–425, title I, § 123, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2229.) § 10144. Consideration of effect of acquisition of water rights The Secretary shall give full consideration to whether the development, construction, and op- eration of a repository may require any pur- chase or other acquisition of water rights that will have a significant adverse effect on the present or future development of the area in which such repository is located. The Secretary shall mitigate any such adverse effects to the maximum extent practicable. (Pub. L. 97–425, title I, § 124, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2229.) § 10145. Termination of certain provisions Sections 10139 and 10140 of this title shall cease to have effect at such time as a repository devel- oped under this part is licensed to receive and possess high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. (Pub. L. 97–425, title I, § 125, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2229.) PART B—INTERIM STORAGE PROGRAM § 10151. Findings and purposes (a) The Congress finds that— (1) the persons owning and operating civilian nuclear power reactors have the primary re- sponsibility for providing interim storage of spent nuclear fuel from such reactors, by maximizing, to the extent practical, the effec- tive use of existing storage facilities at the site of each civilian nuclear power reactor, and by adding new onsite storage capacity in a timely manner where practical; (2) the Federal Government has the responsi- bility to encourage and expedite the effective use of existing storage facilities and the addi- tion of needed new storage capacity at the site of each civilian nuclear power reactor; and (3) the Federal Government has the responsi- bility to provide, in accordance with the provi- sions of this part, not more than 1,900 metric tons of capacity for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel for civilian nuclear power reac- tors that cannot reasonably provide adequate storage capacity at the sites of such reactors when needed to assure the continued, orderly operation of such reactors. (b) The purposes of this part are— (1) to provide for the utilization of available spent nuclear fuel pools at the site of each ci-