HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 65
(By Delegates Young, Anderson, Browning, J. Cannon, Chiarelli, W. Clark, Clay, Crouse, DeVault, Flanigan, Hillenbrand, Holstein, Hornby, Marple, Pritt, Stephens, and Zatezalo)
([February 24, 2025; Referred
to the Committee on Energy and Public Works
then Rules]
Urging the United States Congress and the Department of Energy to fulfill federal obligations regarding spent nuclear fuel and establish a permanent repository.
Whereas, Spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored at reactor sites for decades, but communities in the vicinity of commercial nuclear plants never consented to the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel; and
Whereas, Twelve United States commercial nuclear power reactors have been permanently closed over the last decade, and licenses for 85 of the nation’s 92 commercial nuclear reactors are scheduled to expire by 2050, stranding spent nuclear fuel and delaying efforts to restore sites for other productive uses; and
Whereas, The United States inventory of spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors now exceeds 90,000 metric tons of uranium (MTU) stored at 76 sites in 34 states; and
Whereas, This amount is projected to increase at an average rate of approximately 1,800 MTU annually, reaching an estimated 137,000 MTU by 2050, nearly twice the statutory limit for storing spent fuel at the only authorized permanent disposal facility, known as a deep geologic repository; and
Whereas, The federal government has failed to meet its obligation, as required under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-425) and related contracts, to assume title, liability, and transportation of spent nuclear fuel, leaving it stranded at sites across the nation; and
Whereas, More than a decade has passed since the bipartisan Blue-Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future issued recommendations for siting future nuclear waste management facilities and options for waste disposal, with little progress made toward implementing those recommendations; and
Whereas, Taxpayers in the United States have borne $9 billion in damages for the costs of storing spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites as of September 2020, with projected damages expected to reach $30.6 billion until a consolidated interim storage facility or a deep geologic repository is established; and
Whereas, Nuclear utility customers have prepaid $46 billion into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund for the development of storage and disposal facilities, yet the federal government has failed to fulfill its obligations; and
Whereas, The inability to establish a permanent solution for the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel hampers the expansion of nuclear energy and its potential role in a clean energy future, as well as the restoration and repurposing of decommissioned reactor sites; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature respectfully urges the Congress of the United States to prioritize fulfilling the federal government’s legal and contractual obligation to provide a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel currently stranded across the nation; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of West Virginia respectfully urges the United States Congress and the Department of Energy to take action on the recommendations contained in the final report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future by streamlining the regulatory framework, including revisions to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, to permit the prompt relocation of spent nuclear fuel to consolidated interim storage facilities and ultimately to a permanent deep geologic repository; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, each Senator and Representative from West Virginia in the Congress of the United States, the Chairs and Ranking Members of the United States Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Secretary of Energy.