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Purpose
Radioactive WastesBroaden the focus on chemicals to wider issues of energyIntroduce the role of the state in making public policy
Threads of public policy
Radioactive Wastes
• spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors • Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: U.S. Policy Development – Megatons to Megawatts• transuranic radioactive waste mainly from manufacture of nuclear weapons
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) EPA Oversight of facility• uranium mill tailings from the mining and milling of uranium ore • low-level radioactive waste, generally in the form of radioactively contaminated
industrial or research waste – mixed waste • naturally occurring radioactive material
Radioactive Protection Programs (EPA)Radioactive Waste Management (EPA)
Contaminated soil and water
The United States currently has at least 108 sites designated as areas that are contaminated and unusable
Department of Energy has a goal of cleaning all presently contaminated sites successfully by 2025
The task can be difficult and it acknowledges that some will never be completely remediated
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, there were for example at least "167 known contaminant release sites" in the 37,000-acre site
Some of the U.S. sites were smaller in nature, however, and cleanup issues were simpler to address, and the DOE has successfully cleaned up several sites
Radiation Sources
Smoke detectorsFood irradiationMail irradiationTobacco smoke
Nuclear Industry
United States Government <nuclear>
Nuclear Data (Energy Information Administration)
Nuclear Energy Institute - objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the beneficial uses of nuclear energy and technologies in the United States and around the world – members
State Government
Legislative MaterialExecutive Material• Governor’s Office• Executive AgenciesJudicial Material
Minnesota Legislative Reference LibraryMinnesota State Law LibraryHouse PublicationsSenate Publications
“The 431 nuclear power plants now operating in the world probably will be a historic peak. We still will accumulate nuclear wastes that we have no idea how to handle. It will remind hundreds of future generations of out 50-year burst of irresponsible enthusiasm for this technology”
(Donella Meadows, Sustainability Institute, Aug 23, 2000)
Highly radioactive wastes have been accumulating at individual power plants ever since they were licensed
The federal government has assumed responsibility for developing and maintaining a national repository for these wastes
Until a permanent repository is found states and American Indian bands have been asked to create Independent Storage Sites
Private Fuels LLC
A group of eight electric utility companies that have partnered with the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians to build and operate a safe, clean, temporary facility to store spent nuclear fuel rods from commercial power plants on the Indian Tribe's reservation in Skull Valley, Utah
Received a license September 2005
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management not given approval
Utah litigated PFS’s application before the NRC from 1997 through 2006Utah has appealed NRC licensing decisions to the D.C. Circuit Court of AppealsUtah is prepared to file legal challenges to any BLM or BIA approvals to PFS
Advantages of Nuclear Power
Clean air benefits
Nuclear energy avoided carbon dioxide emissions in Minnesota of 2.99 million metric tons of carbon in 2000, and 70 million metric tons since 1971
During 2000, Minnesota's nuclear power units displaced approximately 70,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 41,000 tons of nitrogen oxide
Virtually accident-free
August 30, 1954—President Eisenhower signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the first major amendment of the original Atomic Energy Act, giving the civilian nuclear energy program further access to nuclear technology
December 2, 1957—The first full-scale nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, goes into service
August 26, 1964—President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Private Ownership of Special Nuclear Materials Act, which allows the nuclear energy industry to own the fuel for its units. After June 30, 1973, private ownership of the uranium fuel is mandatory
April 7, 1977—President Jimmy Carter announces a new policy banning reprocessing of used nuclear fuel
October 8, 1981—President Ronald Reagan's administration lifts the ban on reprocessing used nuclear fuel and announces a policy that anticipates the need for a high-level radioactive waste storage facility
Jan. 14, 1994— the U.S. signs a contract to buy uranium from the Russian Federation that could be blended down into power plant fuel
The Nuclear Two-Step in Minnesota (or where have all the Yuccas gone?)
In 1994 the Minnesota legislature allowed Northern State Power Company to increase nuclear waste storage at its Prairie Island nuclear station
At the time it was thought that the plant could continue operating until 2007 (at which time the federal government would have created a permanent nuclear waste repository and Minnesota would have increased its renewable energy supplies)
In 2003 Xcel Energy, the successor to NSP, is seeking to expand its waste storage again to allow continued operations until the federal license expires in 2013 or is extended, until the federal government opens the Yucca Mountain site, or until ….
Government Involvement in the Production of Goods and the Provision of Services
Public Private
1. Under coercion• Regulation • Financial Incentive – taxation, loan,
infrastructure construction2. Without any coercion – “free market” -
doesn’t exist
There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch
Federal Energy PolicyLegal Controls on the Behavior of Entities Involved in Producing,
Transporting, Marketing, and Using Energy
The threads of public policyThe path of control
Statutes (Statutory law) Rules (Administrative law) Court Cases (Judicial law)
Statutes interpreted by the courtsRules interpreted by the courts
Federal government State government
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-058)
President signs Energy Policy Act
551 pages long!!!!
Enacted July 29, 2005 and signed into law August 8, 2005 The Act attempts to combat growing energy problems, provides tax incentives and loan
guarantees for energy production of various types
Wikipedia
Energy Flow, 2005
Resources
US Code – where is energy legislation?Code of Federal RegulationsDepartment of Energy
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionUS Nuclear Regulatory CommissionEPA Radiation and RadioactivityXcel Energy Nuclear Management Company Institute for Local Self-RelianceNuclear Power (Fresh Energy)
Minnesota StatutesNuclear Power EmergencyPublic Utilities Commission responsibilityEnvironmental Quality Board
Public Utilities Commission - rulesEQB - rules
EQB Energy Facility Docket
Prairie Island Nuclear Waste Storage (Minnesota Legislative Reference Library)
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
"An Act to provide for the development of repositories for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, to establish a program of research, development, and demonstration regarding the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel ...."
Public Law 97-425, January 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2201, amended by Public Law 100-203, December 22, 1987, and The Energy Policy Act of 1992, Public Law 102-486, October 24, 1992. Generally classified to 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.
Federal legislation mandates a centralized geologic repository
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its 1987 amendments require the U.S. Department of Energy to
• locate, build and operate a deep, mined geologic repository for high-level waste • locate, build and operate a "monitored retrievable storage" facility • develop a transportation system that safely links U.S. nuclear power plants, the
interim storage facility, and the permanent repositoryThe Act established the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management within DOE,
headed by a presidential appointee
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act provided for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve all DOE activities under the act, and license all facilities and transportation containers
The Act also provided for the Environmental Protection Agency to set radiation standards for the repository
In addition, the Act created the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, comprising 10 members appointed by the president from nominations made by the National Academy of Sciences, to serve as an independent source of expert advice on the technical and scientific aspects of DOE’s waste disposal program
To pay for a permanent repository, an interim storage facility, and the transportation of used fuel, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act established the Nuclear Waste Fund
The generators’ would bear the costs of permanent disposal Since 1982, electricity consumers have paid into the fund a fee of one-tenth of a cent
for every nuclear-generated kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed By the end of the twentieth century, customer commitments plus interest totaled more
than $16 billionUtilities have sued the Department of Energy for failing to meet its obligation, as
dictated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, to remove waste from individual sites by 1998
In August 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court ruling allowing utility companies to sue DOE to recoup costs associated with storing spent fuel
Originally, DOE selected nine locations in six states that met its criteria for consideration as potential repository sites
Following preliminary technical studies and environmental assessments of five sites, DOE chose three in 1986 for intensive study: Yucca Mountain, Nev.; Deaf Smith County, Texas; and Hanford, Wash.
After extensive environmental assessments of all three sites, Congress, in its 1987 amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, eliminated two of the three sites from further consideration and designated Yucca Mountain as the site to be studied
The Federal government’s total efforts to studying and constructing a depository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
In 1987, DOE announced a five-year delay in the opening date for a centralized repository, from 1998 to 2003
In December 1998, in conjunction with the release of the Viability Assessment for Yucca Mountain, DOE announced a detailed schedule intended to result in the opening of a repository in 2010, should the Yucca Mountain site be selected – a selection that was due in 2001
On January 10, 2002, the Secretary of Energy formally notified the Governor of Nevada, as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, that he intends to recommend the Yucca Mountain site
The Secretary concluded that "the Yucca Mountain site is scientifically sound and suitable for development as the nation’s long-tem geological repository for nuclear waste, which will help ensure America’s national security and secure disposal of nuclear waste, provide for a cleaner environment, and support energy security."
EPA recently certified the site as safe for 100,000 years!!!!
At present, the repository is at lease 12 years behind schedule, no site has been selected for an interim storage facility and the federal government has defaulted on a long-standing obligation to begin moving used fuel for the nation’s nuclear plants by January 1998
Yucca Mountain Repository
State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects
Nuclear Power in Minnesota
Nuclear power supplies 26.3 percent of the electricity generated in Minnesota Three reactors are licensed to operate until 2010 and 2013-2014Two are located at Prairie Island, an island in the Mississippi River, which is also
occupied by the Mdewakanton Dakota CommunityThere are 872 metric tons of nuclear fuel stored in the state
More than three-quarters of Prairie Island is less than 25 feet above the Mississippi River which is 1-3 miles wide and bounded on each side by 360 foot limestone and sandstone bluffs
Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant
The plant generates about 20 percent of the power used by Xcel
It has been operating since 1973 Licensed by the federal government to operate until 2013 and 2014 The plan envisioned using 17 steel casks authorized by the 1994 Legislature to allow
its operation through 2007NSP is attempting to move spent fuel out of Minnesota to keep the plant running at
least until its licenses expireThe City of Red Wing receives over $12 million in property tax from the plant every
year Prairie Island Mdewakanton Sioux NSP has sought to expand storage space for wastes since 1990
Minnesota Laws 1994, chapter 641
Authorized NSP to create an Independent Fuel Storage Installation at its Prairie Island nuclear power plant to store spent nuclear fuel in 17 above-ground casks
5 casks immediately4 more casks if by December 31, 1996, the company• has filed a license application with the NRC for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility
elsewhere in Goodhue county • is continuing to make a good faith effort to implement the site, and has constructed,
contracted for construction and operation, or purchased installed capacity of 100 megawatts of wind power in addition to wind power under construction or contract
8 more if • the legislature has not revoked the authorization above, or • the company has satisfied the wind power and biomass mandate requirements, and • the alternative site in Goodhue county is operational or under construction
Minnesota Laws 1994, chapter 641
If the alternative site is not under construction or operational or the wind mandates are not satisfied, the legislature may revoke the authorization for the additional eight casks by legislation enacted before June 1, 1999
Required the company create a renewable development account -$500,000 each year for each dry cask containing spent fuel that is located at Prairie Island after January 1, 1999
Required moving waste when a federal repository available
The Mdewakanton Dakota were made a third-party beneficiary with standing to enforce any agreements between the state and NSP
Minnesota Laws 1994, chapter 641
Wind mandate,
• to construct and operate, contract to construct and operate, or purchase 225 megawatts of “electric energy installed capacity generated by wind energy conversion systems” (AKA “wind turbines”) by December 31, 1998
• to construct and operate, purchase, or contract to purchase an additional 400 megawatts of “electric energy installed capacity generated by wind energy conversion systems” by December 31, 2002
in June 2000 NSP announced RFP for 80 megawatts of wind energy which completed commitment to place 425 megawatts of wind generation resources in service by the end of 2002
(NSP first included wind power in its generation mix in 1986)
Minnesota Laws 1994, chapter 641
Biomass mandate,
• to construct and operate, purchase, or contract to construct and operate 50 megawatts of electric energy installed capacity generated by farm grown closed-loop biomass by December 31, 1998, and
• an additional 75 megawatts of installed capacity so generated by December 31, 2002
In 1997 NSP signed an agreement with Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers to purchase 75-MW of electricity produced from alfalfa
In 1998 NSP signed agreements to purchase 25 megawatts of electricity produced
from biomass• St. Paul Cogeneration, LLC will use tree trimmings, wood chips, and demolition
waste wood• EPS/Beck Power LLC will build a new generating facility near St. Peter that will to
burn hybrid poplarsThe agreements fulfills the company's obligation to contract for 125 MW of electric
generating capacity fueled by biomass energy
In the Matter of Northern States Power Company’s Petition for ...
September 2000 Xcel Energy Inc. fulfilled the 1994 requirement Agreed to purchase 125 megawatts of biomass-generated power from plant using
poultry litter
Minnesota's Biomass Mandate: An Assessment (Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2005)
Minnesota Laws 2003, 1st Special Session, chapter 11
Settlement with Mdewakanton Dakota Renewable Development Account Renewable Energy Production Incentives Wind Power mandateBiomass mandate
Coal Gasification
The 1,000-megawatt Mesabi Energy Project would be the largest power plant of its kind
Turns coal into a gas that fires the power plant's boilers• Coleman voted for an energy bill that allows oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, if the bill also includes hundreds of millions of dollars for the new Mesabi Energy power plant
State lawmakers approved a package giving Mesabi Energy a fast track around some state regulations to construct the plant and power lines
A purchase agreement guarantees a buyer for about half the plant's proposed electric output
Excelsior Energy debate goes public (MPR, August 2006 )Crunch time for coal-gas plant (Star Tribune, April 21 2007)
Nuclear Waste Dry Cask Storage (Minnesota House)Minnesota regulators approve additional storage for nuclear power plant (MPR)Minnesota EQB Radioactive Waste ProgramNuclear Waste Transportation Routes (Nevada)
Links to the World - Energy (Minnesota Legislative reference Library)
On Nov 7, 2006 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it had renewed Xcel’s Monticello nuclear plant’s operating license for an additional 20 years, to 2030
In September, 2006 the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s request for a Certificate of Need to authorize construction and operation of a dry spent fuel storage facility at the Monticello plant
The additional storage is needed to accommodate plant operation after 2010
In 2004, Xcel estimated the present-value cost of turning to coal-fed power plants to replace the Monticello reactor would range from about $900 million to more than $3 billion over two decades
Big Stone Power Plant
HF1613 - Minnesota - Biomass fuel stoves sales tax exemption ...
Minnesota Biomass Center
Minnesota Power announces biomass energy initiative
