Used nuclear fuel storage-amendments.

25LSO-0253
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0253
Introduced
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0016

Used nuclear fuel storage-amendments.

Sponsored by: Joint Minerals, Business & Economic Development Interim Committee

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to environmental quality; establishing requirements and standards for the storage of used nuclear fuel; amending siting requirements for used nuclear fuel storage facilities; providing definitions; making conforming amendments; repealing obsolete provisions; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 35
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11
‑
2201 and 35
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11
‑
2202 are created to read:

ARTICLE 22
USED NUCLEAR FUEL STORAGE

35
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11
‑
2201.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(i)

"Consolidated interim storage facility" means a facility that stores used nuclear fuel that is reviewed for and receives any required specific licenses from the United States nuclear regulatory commission under title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 72;

(ii)

"Dry cask storage" means the storage of used nuclear fuel that has been cooled utilizing containers, including any components and systems associated with the containers, that use a realistic security, seismic and flooding design basis for the storage of used nuclear fuel;

(iii)

"Independent used fuel storage installation" means an independent spent fuel storage installation as defined by title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 72, section 3;

(iv)

"Installation" means an independent used fuel storage installation and a consolidated interim storage facility;

(v)

"Used nuclear fuel" means fuel that has been withdrawn from a nuclear reactor following irradiation, the constituent elements of which have not been separated by reprocessing. "Used nuclear fuel" includes the special nuclear material, byproduct material, source material and other radioactive materials associated with fuel assemblies.

35
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11
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2202.

Used nuclear fuel storage installation; application; siting requirements; funds.

(a)

Any person undertaking the siting of an installation shall do so in accordance with this article.

(b)

Any person undertaking the siting of any installation governed by this article shall submit an application to the department before commencing construction of the installation. The application shall include:

(i)

A copy of any application and other materials submitted to the United States nuclear regulatory commission;

(ii)

A copy of any license granted to the applicant for the installation from the United States nuclear regulatory commission;

(iii)

An acknowledgment in writing that the installation will be temporary and will use dry cask storage for the storage of only used nuclear fuel that originates from a nuclear facility in the United States;

(iv)

To the extent that the following information is not submitted to the department under paragraphs (i) or (ii) of this subsection, the following information:

(A)

The criteria upon which the proposed installation site was chosen, and information showing how the site meets the criteria of the nuclear regulatory commission and the department;

(B)

The technical feasibility of the proposed storage equipment and technology;

(C)

The environmental, social and economic impact of the installation in the area of study;

(D)

Conformance with the federal guidelines for an installation.

(c)

Upon receiving an application and the information required under subsection (b) of this section, the department, through the director, shall approve the application for an installation:

(i)

Upon satisfactory proof to the department that the applicant has obtained a license for an installation from the United States nuclear regulatory commission and is otherwise in compliance with this article;

(ii)

That uses dry cask storage; and

(iii)

That is temporary. The department shall receive substantial assurances from the applicant that the installation is temporary, including a license that is time
‑
limited from the United States nuclear regulatory commission or other substantial assurances options including a time frame for the movement of the used nuclear fuel to be stored from the installation to a permanent repository, delivery of the used nuclear fuel for reprocessing or to a purchaser of used nuclear fuel for reprocessing.

(d)

Installations approved under this article are exempt from the jurisdiction of the Industrial Development Information and Siting Act.

(e)

Not less than thirty (30) days before a person commences construction on an installation, the person shall submit a report to the department that includes:

(i)

The number of jobs that will be created in the planning, licensing, site analysis, preparation, purchasing, construction, transportation, operation and decommissioning of the installation and what number of those jobs would be filled by Wyoming residents;

(ii)

Local and state taxes that are estimated to be generated by all aspects of the construction, operation and decommissioning of the installation;

(iii)

All benefits and impacts that will accrue to the state and local community where the installation will be located, including benefits from job training, education, communications systems, monitoring and security systems.

(f)

The operator of each installation shall send to the department copies of all publicly available reports, notifications and violations sent to or from the United States nuclear regulatory commission or the operator of the installation as soon as practicable but not later than five (5) days after the operator sends or receives the report. The operator shall also transmit all information required under this subsection to emergency management departments of the local governments where the installation is located and shall make the information available on a public website.

(g)

Upon receipt of an application under this article, the director shall, as soon as possible, apply for any funds that may be available to the state from the federal interim storage fund, the federal nuclear waste fund and any other funds that are or may become available to the state under any federal or state program. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize the siting, construction or operation of any installation not otherwise authorized under this article.

(h)

Any used nuclear fuel in storage at an installation shall remain the property of the generator of the used nuclear fuel or the civilian nuclear power reactor owner, until the used nuclear fuel is transferred to permanent storage or until the United States or a federal agency takes title to the used nuclear fuel under the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act or other applicable federal law.

(j)

This article shall be construed to avoid duplication and to avoid interference with any of the requirements of the United States nuclear regulatory commission. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to affect the authority of the United States nuclear regulatory commission.

Section 2.

W.S. 35
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11
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103(a)(xiii), 35
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11
‑
1501(a)(i) through (iii), 35
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11
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1506(c)(intro), (iv), (x) through (xii) and (e)(i)(A) and 35
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11
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2101(b) and (d)(iv) are amended to read:

35
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11
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103.

Definitions.

(a)

For the purpose of this act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(xiii)

"This act" means W.S. 35
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11
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101 through 35
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11
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403, 35
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11
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405, 35
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11
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406, 35
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11
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408 through 35
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11
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1106, 35
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11
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1414 through 35
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11
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1432, 35
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11
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1601 through 35
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11
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1613, 35
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11
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1701, 35
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11
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1801 through 35
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11
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1803, 35
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11
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2001 through 35
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11
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2004
,

and
35
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11
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2101
, 35
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11
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2201 and 35
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11
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2202
.

35
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11
‑
1501.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(i)

"High
‑
level radioactive waste" means as defined in the "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982" as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.
"High
‑
level radioactive waste" does not include used nuclear fuel as defined by W.S. 35
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11
‑
2201(a)(v)
;

(ii)

"High
‑
level radioactive waste storage" means the emplacement of high
‑
level radioactive waste
,

or spent nuclear fuel
regardless of the intent to recover that waste
or fuel
for subsequent use, processing or disposal;

(iii)

"High
‑
level radioactive waste storage facility" includes any facility for high
‑
level radioactive waste storage, other than a permanent repository operated by a federal agency pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended.
"High
‑
level radioactive waste storage facility" includes an independent spent fuel storage installation as defined in title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 72 section 3;

35
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11
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1506.

Legislative approval of the siting of high
‑
level radioactive waste storage facilities; conditions.

(c)

With permission of the governor and the management council, an applicant for
either
a monitored retrievable storage facility
or an independent spent fuel storage installation
may enter into a preliminary but nonbinding feasibility agreement and study with the director which shall be submitted to and reviewed by the director, governor and the management council. The public shall be afforded a thirty (30) day public comment opportunity to review the feasibility agreement prior to its submission to the governor and the management council. The purposes of this feasibility agreement and study are to allow the state to make a preliminary determination, whether, on the basis of the feasibility agreement and study, the proposed benefits substantially outweigh any adverse effects and to allow an applicant based on the state's preliminary review of any proposed benefit to determine whether or not a prudent investor, planner, builder and operator would decide to proceed with an application. Upon entering into a feasibility agreement, the applicant shall pay to the state a fee of eighty thousand dollars ($80,000.00). Effective July 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, the fee shall be adjusted for inflation by the department using the consumer price index or its successor index of the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, for the calendar year immediately preceding the date of adjustment. The fee shall be used by the department for costs attendant to the preliminary agreement. Excess funds collected may be used by the department to review an application submitted under W.S. 35
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11
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1502. Appropriate time shall be afforded the director, the governor, the management council and the applicant to prepare and to evaluate the preliminary agreement and study, but neither the state nor the applicant shall unnecessarily delay the feasibility agreement and study. The preliminary feasibility agreement and study shall not supersede nor replace other requirements under this act. This agreement and study shall set forth the following:

(iv)

The preliminary design plan and technical feasibility of the planned temporary
fuel rod
high
‑
level radioactive waste
storage facility;

(x)

Substantial assurances that the facility is temporary, including options for that assurance including a time frame for the movement of the temporarily stored
fuel rods
high
‑
level radioactive waste
to a permanent repository, delivery of the
stored rods
high
‑
level radioactive waste
to reprocessing centers or to a purchaser, domestic or foreign, buying the
rods
waste
for future reprocessing;

(xi)

A range of benefits the nearby communities and the state might expect in return for temporarily storing the
fuel rods
high
‑
level radioactive waste
, and a best estimate of when the benefits might begin to be received by the nearby communities and state;

(xii)

A mutual review, by the state and applicant, of a range of taxes the state might reasonably impose on the facility and the
fuel rods
high
‑
level radioactive waste
while
they are
in temporary storage including the annual acceptance taxes to be levied
,

on fuel rods,
based upon the
weight, in
kilograms
,
of
fuel rods
the high
‑
level radioactive waste
stored at the Wyoming facility;

(e)

The legislature hereby authorizes the siting of temporary high
‑
level radioactive waste storage facilities within this state subject to the following:

(i)

A facility is authorized if:

(A)

It is operated on the site of and to store the high
‑
level radioactive waste
or spent nuclear fuel
produced by a nuclear power generation facility operating within the state;

35
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11
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2101.

Advanced nuclear reactors; requirements.

(b)

Any person operating an advanced nuclear reactor in the state of Wyoming in accordance with this section shall not store
spent
used
nuclear fuel or high
‑
level radioactive waste from the advanced nuclear reactor on the site of the advanced nuclear reactor without first meeting all of the requirements of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

(d)

As used in this section:

(iv)

"
Spent
Used
nuclear fuel" means as defined in W.S.
35
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11
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1501(a)(iv)
35
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11
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2201(a)(v)
.

Section 3.

W.S. 35
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11
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1501(a)(iv) is repealed.

Section 4.

The environmental quality council, upon recommendation from the department of environmental quality, shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.

Section 5.

(a)

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective July 1, 2025.

(b)

Sections 4 and 5 of this act are effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0016