S.Amdt. 3164

This amendment, submitted by Mr. Cruz and Mr. Heinrich, aims to add a section to bill S. 2296 that requires a study on new technologies used to recycle spent nuclear fuel.

The purpose of this addition is to have the Secretary of Energy, through the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, analyze the following:

• Recycling Practicability: The costs, risks, and potential benefits of using recycling facilities to turn spent nuclear fuel into usable fuel for commercial light water reactors, advanced nuclear reactors, and other applications like medical or space-based uses.

• Comparative Analysis: A comparison between recycling spent nuclear fuel from temporary storage sites versus the "once-through fuel cycle," which includes permanent and temporary storage requirements.

• Technical Methods: An analysis of aqueous recycling processes (such as PUREX) compared to non-aqueous processes (such as pyro-electrochemistry).

• Facility Planning: The feasibility of colocating recycling facilities with other sites, such as fuel-fabrication facilities or advanced nuclear reactors, including cost estimates and public-private partnerships.

• Impact on People: Identification of individuals, communities, businesses, and local or Tribal governments affected by the current indefinite temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel.

• Siting and Regulation: Assessments of where to put recycling facilities (such as regional or national sites) and the identification of regulatory gaps or outdated definitions of radioactive waste in Federal law.

• Policy and Storage: Evaluation of policy changes to support recycling technologies and how recycling would impact domestic nuclear waste storage requirements.

The amendment also requires a public report to be submitted to specific House and Senate committees within one year of the Act's enactment. This report must be written for a nonspecialist readership and include an executive summary, a historical overview of why recycling is not currently done in the U.S., and policy recommendations to enable commercial adoption of recycling.