For Immediate Release: October 24, 2017

Contact: Eva Maciejewski, 202-898-8083, emaciejewski@naruc.org

NARUC and Other Organizations Send Letters to House and Senate on FY 2018 Funding Priorities

Letter Urges Congress to Appropriate Funds to Advance Nuclear Waste Program  

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and five other organizations co-signed letters to U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate leadership requesting assistance in appropriating FY 2018 funds for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Waste Program.

The letter urges Congress to fund the Nuclear Waste Program to spur the implementation of key elements in the program, in particular:

• Completion of the Yucca Mountain licensing review

• Implementation of pilot consolidated interim storage with priority for stranded reactor fuel

• Preparation for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste transportation

“Nuclear waste is currently stored at reactor sites and DOE facilities in 37 states and more than 100 communities across the country, causing increased fees for ratepayers and presenting potential safety issues,” said NARUC President John Betkoski III. “Electric consumer payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund exceed $40 billion; therefore, implementing the Nuclear Waste Program is a national priority—one that should be reflected in the FY 2018 budget,” he added.

Commissioner Anthony J. O’Donnell, of the Maryland Public Service Commission, testified on behalf of NARUC on the ongoing issue of nuclear waste disposal before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in September. His testimony can be accessed here. His answers to questions posed during the hearing can be found here.

Along with NARUC, the letter was co-signed by: the American Nuclear Society, Yankee Atomic Electric Company, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council and the Vermont Public Utility Commission. Download the letter to the U.S. House of Representatives at http://bit.ly/NARUCLetterHouse and the letter to the U.S. Senate at http://bit.ly/NARUCLetterSenate.

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NARUC is a non-profit organization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. NARUC's member agencies regulate telecommunications, energy, and water utilities. NARUC represents the interests of State public utility commissions before the three branches of the Federal government.