Pete Domenici: “I introduce an amendment creating a new DOE Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research. This new Office would organize a…”

“I introduce an amendment creating a new DOE Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel Research. This new Office would organize a research program to explore new, improved national strategies for spent nuclear fuel. Spent fuel has immense energy potential--that we are simply tossing away with our focus only on a permanent repository. We could be recycling that spent fuel back into civilian fuel and extracting additional energy. We could follow the examples of France, the U.K., and Japan in reprocessing the fuel to not only extract more energy, but also to reduce the volume and toxicity of the final waste forms. It is too bad we did not start with this emphasis and organization within the last 15 or 20 years. But we were on a path that said under no conditions would we do this. We thought it would add to the nonproliferation potential. We thought we would set an example and nobody would do it, so we would not produce any additional plutonium. What happened is we stayed in our rut, thinking it was going to be worldwide, while other countries decided ours was a rather imprudent policy and they have proceeded. I just enumerated the countries that have done that. I support continued progress at Yucca Mountain and appreciate the President's decision to move ahead toward licensing of it as our Nation's first permanent repository for high level waste. But, I have frequently suggested that our single-minded focus on this 'solution' for spent fuel does not serve our Nation well.”