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United States of America Congressional Record PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 100th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 133 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1987_So. 12 Senate By Mr. HECHT: S. 1141. A bill entitled the "Nuclear Energy Waste Policy Act of 1987"; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. NUCLEAR ENERGY WASTE POLICY ACT Mr. HECHT. Mr. President, today I am offering a bill that will put in place a much needed margin of safety for whatever approach this Nation ultimately takes to its high level nuclear waste disposal problem. With several of my colleagues, I recently completed an inspection trip to Europe, which involved visits to nuclear waste facilities in France and Sweden. I met with the top nuclear energy officials of these nations and learned a lot about how the American Nuclear Waste Program can be improved. The single most important lesson I learned, Mr. President, is that this Nation can take one very simple and inexpensive step which has huge payoffs in terms of improved safety. My legislation will make sure that America takes this important and sensible step forward. In those countries that have successful nuclear waste programs, high level nuclear waste is stored for 30 to 50 years, so it can cool down and become less radioactive before permanent disposal takes place. We should apply this safety lesson to our own Nuclear Waste Program. However, the current plans of the Energy Department are to put nuclear waste into a repository after only 5 to 10 years of cooling. My bill will ensure that waste is not shipped to a repository until it has been aged for at least 50 years. This bill will guarantee that when the waste is finally shipped to a reposi-1 tory, it will be much cooler, much less radioactive, and therefore less dangerous to the public health and safety and the environment. It will also make the waste easier and less expensive to handle and to transport. This bill should not only be of interest to Senators from a State where a repository may eventually be located, but also to those who represent the many States through which the waste must be transported on its way to a repository. I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation, and look forward to its early consideration.