AR16: Resolution Text

LRB-5026/1

PEN:kmg:ijs

1997 - 1998 LEGISLATURE

1997 Assembly RESOLUTION 16

March 2, 1998 - Introduced by Representatives Duff, Hutchison, Musser and Ott. Referred to Committee on Environment.

AR16,1,1 Relating to: the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997.

AR16,1,6 Whereas, the U.S. house of representatives passed H.R. 1270, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. (1997), addressing the federal government's management of used nuclear fuel, on October 30, 1997, by a vote of 307-120 and the U.S. senate passed S. 104, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. (1997), addressing the same subject, on April 15, by a vote of 65 to 34; and

AR16,1,9 Whereas, the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 set January 31, 1998, as the deadline for the U.S. department of energy to begin accepting used fuel from commercial nuclear reactors; and

AR16,1,12 Whereas, the U.S. department of energy has failed to live up to its obligations under that act, despite having had 15 years to establish a central storage facility for these materials; and

AR16,1,15 Whereas, without legislative action by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. department of energy will not begin accepting used nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors until the year 2010; and

AR16,2,4 Whereas, American electrical ratepayers have paid the federal government $14,000,000,000, of which Wisconsin electrical utility customers have contributed $372,000,000, to finance the construction of a central storage facility for used nuclear fuel; and

AR16,2,8 Whereas, without legislative action by the U.S. Congress, the nation's electrical consumers may have to pay another $5,000,000,000 in fees for additional temporary storage facilities at nuclear power plants in Wisconsin and throughout the United States; and

AR16,2,12 Whereas, 105 H.R. 1270 and 105 S. 104 require the U.S. department of energy to develop a management plan which includes a temporary central storage facility for used nuclear fuel that is now stored at 80 separate sites in 41 states, of which several are in the Midwest, including 3 in Wisconsin; and

AR16,2,16 Whereas, 105 H.R. 1270 and 105 S. 104 would help ensure that nuclear waste produced by commercial power plants would be stored at one location in a remote and unpopulated area, enabling safety and cost efficiencies to be maximized; now, therefore, be it

AR16,2,23 Resolved by the assembly, That the Wisconsin assembly endorses the legislative efforts of 105 H.R. 1270 and 105 S. 104 to reform the federal government's management of used fuel from nuclear power plants and defense programs, calls this effort to the attention of all state citizens, and urges the leadership of the U.S. house of representatives and the U.S. senate to convene a conference committee to pass this legislation to expedite the resolution of the country's current nuclear waste storage situation; and, be it further

AR16,3,2 Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, the secretary of the U.S. department of energy, the speaker of the U.S. house of representatives, the majority leader of the U.S. senate and each member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation.

AR16,3,3 (End)