PRINTER'S NO. 439
No. 21 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY REBER, MORRIS, FRYER, GALLAGHER, GEORGE, BUNT,
SAURMAN, NAHILL, B. SMITH, E. Z. TAYLOR AND HERSHEY,
FEBRUARY 12, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, FEBRUARY 13, 1985
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the United States Congress to amend the Nuclear
2 Waste Policy Act of 1982 to incorporate time limits on the
3 period of time that spent nuclear fuel rods could be stored
4 onsite by a commercial operator.
5 WHEREAS, The accumulation of spent nuclear fuel and other
6 high-level radioactive waste products creates a national
7 problem; and
8 WHEREAS, High-level radioactive waste creates serious human
9 and environmental risks to the health, welfare and safety of the
10 citizens of this State and this country; and
11 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States, by the Atomic
12 Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act
13 of 1982, has mandated that the government of the United States
14 establish permanent repositories for such high-level waste,
15 exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, While the Federal Government has had the
18 responsibility for and has effectively handled high-level
1 radioactive waste from military sources, it has not addressed
2 the problem of the disposal of commercial high-level radioactive
3 waste, although it is the responsibility of the Federal
4 Government to do so under the aforementioned acts; and
5 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, under its
6 Constitution, is responsible for the health, safety and welfare
7 of the citizens of this Commonwealth and therefore has the
8 right, duty and obligation to protect from undue harm or danger
9 its citizens and its environment; and
10 WHEREAS, The storage of high-level and potentially dangerous
11 radioactive waste and spent fuel on the site of nuclear power
12 plants presents a present potential danger to the citizens of
13 this Commonwealth, and the continuing accumulating storage of
14 such waste will increase the potential danger to the citizens of
15 this Commonwealth; therefore be it
16 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
17 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of the
18 United States to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to
19 establish a time schedule for taking action under the act and to
20 mandate a definite date for the opening and operation of a
21 national high-level waste repository; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
23 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
24 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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