“Senator Obama and I wanted to make it clear to the chairman that any plan to create regional nuclear waste sites without any local veto power is unacceptable. Illinois must not become a dumping ground – even a temporary one – for nuclear waste brought in from other states,” said Durbin.

Statutory language, which was added to the bill earlier this week, allows the Secretary of Energy to create a regional nuclear waste storage site in any state with a commercial nuclear reactor – even if that state does not want to host a regional site. Such sites would be “temporary” repositories for spent nuclear materials until a permanent national nuclear waste repository is completed.

Durbin and Obama successfully added a provision to the report accompanying the appropriations bill which exempts states like Illinois who already have designated storage sites for nuclear waste generated within their own borders. But both senators say more changes are needed.

“Report language is used to guide the actions of the Administration, so the changes made at our request will stop Illinois from being designated a regional waste storage site in the short-term, but we feel a more permanent statutory solution is called for,” said Durbin.

In the letter the two senators wrote: “We would sincerely appreciate your personal commitment to work with us prior to consideration of this bill on the Senate floor to amend the statutory language to reflect the changes made to the report language. We strongly believe that states should not be unfairly burdened with decisions made at the federal administrative level . . . [e]very state should be afforded the opportunity to participate in this process in a means that benefits that state.”

The Honorable Pete V. Domenici
United States Senate
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. Chairman:

We would like to address a concern we have with language included in the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee bill that creates a program for the “Consolidation of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel.”

We appreciate the inclusion of report language in the Manager’s Amendment that exempts those states that designate a state specific site from the Secretary of Energy’s ability to designate that state as host of a regional interim storage site unless the state specifically chooses to coordinate with surrounding states. However, we remain concerned that those changes are not currently reflected in the statutory language of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill. We would appreciate your personal commitment to work with us prior to consideration of this bill on the Senate floor to amend the statutory language to reflect the changes made to the report language.

We strongly believe that states should not be unfairly burdened with waste from other states by decisions made at the federal administrative level when those states voluntarily designate an interim storage site to handle waste generated in that state. Currently the statutory language allows for the creation of a regional site within any state with a commercial nuclear reactor regardless of the willingness of that state to host a regional site or to designate its own site. Every state should be afforded the opportunity to chart a course that addresses its own interim waste storage in a manner that makes sense for that state.

We look forward to working with you and believe that changes to the statutory language of the bill can be made that will address these initial concerns.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

Barack Obama
United States Senator