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Summary:
Nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress include questions about radioactive waste management, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear weapons facilities cleanup, and technology for producing nuclear fuel. Federal funding for nuclear energy research and development was substantially reduced by the Clinton Administration, which placed a higher priority on energy efficiency and alternative energy technologies. However, the Department of Energy (DOE) sought, and Congress provided, $35 million in FY2001 for the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative, which focuses on advanced nuclear technology research. Disposal of highly radioactive waste has been one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear power. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-425), as amended in 1987, requires DOE to begin detailed physical characterization of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a permanent underground repository for high-level waste. Legislation was introduced in the 106th Congress (H.R. 45, S. 608) to establish an interim storage facility for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. But the Clinton Administration opposed temporary storage at the site. In response, the Senate approved an alternative measure February 10, 2000, to authorize DOE to store waste at Yucca Mountain only after receiving a construction permit for a permanent repository (S. 1287). The House passed the bill without amendment March 22, 2000, but President Clinton vetoed it April 25, 2000. A Senate effort to override the veto fell short on May 2, 2000, by a vote of 64-35. Whether progress on nuclear waste disposal and other congressional action will revive the U.S. nuclear power industry's growth will depend on economic considerations. Natural gas- and coal-fired powerplants currently are favored over nuclear reactors for new generating capacity. However, the nuclear industry believes that simpler, safer versions of today's commercial reactors could eventually be built in the United States. Concern about the spread, or proliferation, of nuclear weapons throughout the world has risen sharply since longtime rivals India and Pakistan conducted competing nuclear weapons tests in May 1998. The heightened tensions in Southeast Asia have focused attention on the effectiveness of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. Potential nuclear weapons development by North Korea and Iran have also recently raised considerable U.S. concern. Cleaning up severe environmental problems at U.S. nuclear weapons production facilities, owned by DOE, is expected to cost about $150 billion over the next several decades. After sharp growth in the early 1990s, DOE environmental cleanup funding under the Clinton Administration has been nearly flat. Congress approved about $6.4 billion for the program in FY2001. The enrichment of natural uranium to make nuclear fuel, formerly a government activity, now is carried out by the newly privatized U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC). USEC was privatized in a $1.9 billion initial public stock offering that was completed July 28, 1998. USEC announced June 21, 2000, that it would close one of its enrichment plants by June 2001.
