Do Cities That Have to Store Nuclear Waste Need Compensation From the Feds? (H.R. 5632)

What is H.R. 5632?

(Updated November 15, 2017)

This bill would compensate communities where spent fuel from decommissioned nuclear power plants is stored through a program to be created by the Dept. of Energy (DOE). In total, $100 million in funding would be authorized for compensating communities that have to store the nuclear waste through fiscal year 2023.

The DOE would make one payment per fiscal year to a community storing nuclear waste, and the communities would have to apply each year to receive a payment. Local governments would receive $15 per kilogram of nuclear waste that’s stored a decommissioned power plant within their jurisdiction. If so many eligible communities apply that there’s not enough funding to go around, the DOE would have to reduce payments to all successful applicants equally to ensure that they’re all compensated to lesser extent.

Under current law, the federal government is required to operate a facility to permanently store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, NV but it hasn’t opened because of political opposition so communities with decommissioned nuclear power plants have to store the waste.

Argument in favor

Communities that are home to decommissioned nuclear power plants deserve federal compensation for storing the nuclear waste because the federal government hasn’t opened a long-term storage facility for the waste.

Argument opposed

Just because the federal government hasn’t opened a nuclear waste storage facility like it was supposed to doesn’t mean that it should have to compensate the communities that are left storing the nuclear waste.

Impact

Communities that have to store nuclear waste from decommissioned power plants; and the DOE.

Cost of H.R. 5632

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) introduced this bill to ensure that a city in his district — Zion, Illinois — and others like it don’t have to bear the burden of storing nuclear waste without federal assistance:

“Because of the government’s failure to move ahead with a long-term storage facility for nuclear waste, Zion is being forced to store the waste on the shore of Lake Michigan, severely damaging the local economy and risking environmental disaster. Our bipartisan bill will help revitalize Zion’s economy by compensating the community for storing nuclear waste until a more permanent solution is finally implemented.”

This legislation has the bipartisan support of three cosponsors in the House, including two Democrats and a Republican.

Of Note: There are 11 nuclear power plants that have been decommissioned in the U.S., though it is not clear how many of those facilities and their surrounding communities are forced to store leftover nuclear waste.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) Press Release
• CBS Chicago
• Chicago Tribune
• Ripon Advance