Bill Keating: “My amendment allocates resources for additional research into innovative technologies and processes for safe and secure…”

“My amendment allocates resources for additional research into innovative technologies and processes for safe and secure storage, treatment, transportation, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. Five nuclear power plants have retired since 2013. Six more across the country, including the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in my district, are slated to retire just in the next few years. This is also timely, because just last month, this House passed, by a margin of 340-72, a bill to improve nuclear waste storage. Reactors can shut down, but that doesn't mean there is a safe, secure plan for spent fuel stored onsite. Pilgrim has been operating for over 45 years in Massachusetts, and its spent fuel has been stored there ever since. The Pilgrim Plant is slated to retire in 2019, almost exactly 1 year from today. The spent fuel there needs to be addressed. My community in Plymouth and those around the country are asking legitimate questions on how the safety and security of these materials can be increased. We have an opportunity to dig deeper into these questions and find better answers for my constituents and for people around the country who have a nuclear power plant nearby. New advanced research should examine how the safety and security of spent fuel pools can be improved. Additionally, the safe transfer of materials to dry casks deserves to be reexamined, as does the design and long-term integrity of dry casks.…”