Alan Simpson: “A typical nuclear powerplant produces 30 tons of spent fuel every year. Right now more than 30,000 metric tons of spent…”

“A typical nuclear powerplant produces 30 tons of spent fuel every year. Right now more than 30,000 metric tons of spent fuel are being stored at 75 sites across this country. And 23 reactors will run out of room in their storage pools by 1998. By 2010, a total of 78 reactors will be out of storage space for their spent fuel and have about 45,000 tons of metric tons of spent fuel. It is very important we get the waste out of these inappropriate and unsafe locations into a technologically sound, permanent storage site. It is also very important for every person in this country to realize that it is perfectly possible and technically feasible to transport and store this waste with very little risk to human health or the environment. I point out the Department of Energy has been transporting nuclear waste from the weapons facilities under its jurisdictions for 30 years without a single incident of environmental or human harm. It is crucial to get on with the business and get on with the work of an efficient and safe system for civilian nuclear waste before the risks we have been dodging with our current haphazard setups catch up with us. I applaud the work of Senators Murkowski and Craig and Johnston, their bipartisan effort through the years. They have a realistic piece of legislation which finally allows the Federal Government to live up to its commitment to provide a safe, secure, and centralized location for the storage of the most radioactive of the nuclear waste.”