Require That the U.S. Department of Energy Focus on the Safe Treatment and Storage of Radioactive Waste On-Site Where Appropriate to Mitigate Health and Environmental Risks of Transporting Low, High, and Mixed Level Waste to offsite Treatment Facilities
Adopted at the 85th Annual Meeting in 2017
WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors recognizes that the treatment of nuclear waste is a regional and national issue that requires the collaboration of all levels of government to develop practical and safe solutions; and
WHEREAS, transporting low, high, and mixed level radioactive materials across the nation on major interstates, highways and railways will expose countless communities across the country to hazardous radiation; and
WHEREAS, a truck or railway accident or terrorist attack involving transported low, high and mixed level nuclear waste would render entire cities and surrounding areas uninhabitable; and
WHEREAS, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, our nation's crumbling infrastructure and system of highways, roads, and bridges is rated a D+; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Energy is currently permitting shipments of low-level and mixed low-level radioactive waste to Las Vegas, Nevada for burial at the Nevada National Security Site from several states across the nation, including California, Idaho, Maryland, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, Florida, and Texas; and
WHEREAS, the Trump Administration recently requested $120 million in its FY 2018 Budget Proposal to restart licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which would ultimately increase the amount of waste being transported across the nation; and
WHEREAS, the House Committee on Energy and Science recently held a hearing on draft legislation titled the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 which would streamline the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, the Department of Energy began a consent-based siting initiative to site nuclear waste storage and disposal facilities. This initiative was the result of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, a bipartisan group tasked with studying waste disposal. This process would ensure that all Americans, including state and local governments, tribes, stakeholders and the community would have a say in the siting of waste disposal. the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act has been introduced in the 115th Congress to codify the process; and
WHEREAS, in the event of a radiological emergency in or near a city, significant impacts could create a financial burden of millions of dollars to the emergency management agencies charged with protecting the health, safety and welfare of its citizens and visitors; and
WHEREAS, the recent collapse of a tunnel used to store radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington has raised fresh concerns about aging facilities and the potential for release of radiation (even though none was released at Hanford),
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. Department of Energy to focus on the treatment and storage of radioactive waste on-site or to move towards a consent-based approach to avoid further health and environmental impacts from the transportation of waste produced from other decommissioned nuclear facilities; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors calls upon its membership to be knowledgeable about the U.S. Department of Energy's planned routes, quantities, and timing to ship radioactive waste to Nevada.