To authorize the use of amounts in the Nuclear Waste Fund to promote the recycling of spent nuclear fuel, and for other purposes.
Key claim: This 2008 House bill would have let the Energy Department spend Nuclear Waste Fund money on private spent-fuel recycling, required the NRC to create a licensing process for recycling plants, and taken the Fund off the federal budget.
Abstract
(HR6132 · 110th Congress) Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to authorize the Secretary of Energy to use amounts in the Nuclear Waste Fund to make competitive grants to or enter into long-term contracts with private sector entities for the recycling of spent nuclear fuel. Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to complete a rulemaking establishing a process for licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, of facilities for the recycling of spent nuclear fuel. Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to provide that the receipt and disbursements of the Nuclear Waste Fund shall not be counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficits or surplus for purposes of the executive budget, the congressional budget, or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) (thereby moving the Fund off-budget). Latest action (2008-05-22): Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Why this matters
The bill is an early Congressional attempt to redirect the Nuclear Waste Fund from geologic disposal toward reprocessing, and to create a dedicated NRC licensing pathway for commercial recycling plants — issues that recur in the current REFUEL Act debates. Tracing this 2008 proposal shows how long-running the policy tension has been between deep disposal (Yucca Mountain) and closing the fuel cycle, and how repeated bills have failed to change the underlying licensing framework.