Sponsors (2)
The bill eliminates private consolidated interim storage and centralizes spent fuel storage to federal or reactor sites—reducing local opposition and increasing federal control but likely prolonging on‑site storage at reactors, raising costs and legal risks for utilities and taxpayers.
Nationwide: the bill voids private away‑from‑reactor storage licenses and confines storage to federally owned repositories or reactor sites, centralizing oversight and increasing federal regulatory accountability.
Communities near proposed private interim storage sites: those communities avoid having spent nuclear fuel or high‑level waste stored locally, reducing local perceived safety and land‑use concerns.
Residents near reactor sites and reactor-hosting communities: limiting moves to federal sites could delay relocation if repositories or federal sites are not ready, prolonging on‑site storage and shifting safety, land‑use, and long‑term disposal burdens onto those communities.
Utilities and owners of spent fuel (and ultimately ratepayers/taxpayers): losing the private consolidated interim storage option may increase on‑site storage durations and costs for utilities and could raise costs passed to customers or require higher federal outlays.
Utilities, licensees, and taxpayers: voiding existing NRC licenses creates legal and financial uncertainty that could trigger litigation or claims against the federal government, generating taxpayer exposure and implementation delays.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prevents the NRC from licensing privately owned offsite consolidated interim storage for spent nuclear fuel, limits interim storage licensing to reactor sites or federally owned facilities, and voids conflicting licenses.
Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from issuing licenses for privately owned, offsite consolidated interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste and voids any existing NRC licenses that conflict with this ban. It confines interim storage licensing to either a facility located at an operating civilian reactor where the waste was generated or to federally owned interim storage facilities, and limits long-term storage or permanent disposal licensing to federally owned repositories under existing law. This change would stop future private away-from-reactor interim storage projects from receiving NRC approval and could nullify already issued private storage licenses, affecting utilities, private storage developers, the NRC, and communities near proposed or operating storage sites. It shifts the responsibility for offsite interim and long-term storage toward federal ownership and control.
Introduced December 11, 2025 by Troy E. Nehls · Last progress December 11, 2025