Letter from the Congress of the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Consistent with the mandate issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners v. United States Department of Energy, (Nos. 11-1066 and 11-1068; D.C. Cir. 2013), and notwithstanding the absence of the determination required to be made pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy
Act of 1982 (NWPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 10222(a)(4), I hereby propose, subject to any

Our country faces a mounting challenge when it comes to nuclear energy: the safe, long-term disposal of spent fuel from commercial reactors and leftover waste from defense activity. It's a challenge with a decades-long history.

This Memorandum analyzes issues related to the Standard Contract between the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) and the “utilities.” Beginning with a discussion of specific provisions of the Standard Contract, this Memorandum then analyzes the status of lawsuits involving the Standard Contract, reviews issues related to on-site storage of spent fuel and HLW, and assesses the prospects for modifying the current waste-disposal regime through Federal legislation or amendments to the Standard Contract.

Dear Co-Chairs Hamilton and Scowcroft:
The Obama Administration believes that nuclear energy has an important role to playas America moves to a clean energy future. One of my goals as Secretary of Energy is to help restart America's nuclear industry, creating thousands of new jobs and new export opportunities for the United States while producing the carbon free energy we need to power America's economy.

Dear Secretary Chu:
Thank you for your remarks to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future at our inaugural meeting on March 25, 2010. Your guidance was both enlightening and invaluable as we establish a plan to fulfill the Commission’s charter.

The nuclear energy industry is committed to legislative reform to create a sustainable, integrated program for federal government management of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) high-level radioactive waste and commercial used nuclear fuel.

It is increasingly apparent that the United States will require a large expansion of nuclear power
generation capacity to meet its future baseload electricity needs while reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. As a result, Congress and the Administration must act to update U.S. nuclear fuel
cycle policy to address these realities. This will likely require a multifaceted approach involving
some combination of on-site/centralized dry cask interim storage, nuclear fuel recycling, and
emplacement of high-level wastes in long-term geological storage.