Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-102

§10151 Findings and Purposes

Title 42 › CHAPTER 108 — NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY › SUBCHAPTER I — DISPOSAL AND STORAGE OF HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, AND LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE › Part B — Interim Storage Program › § 10151

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners and operators of civilian nuclear power plants must mainly handle temporary storage of their spent nuclear fuel. They should use existing on-site storage as much as practical and add new on-site capacity when needed. The federal government must help speed and support those efforts and, when a plant cannot reasonably provide enough storage, must provide up to 1,900 metric tons of temporary federal storage. The goal is to use on-site fuel pools first and to set up a federally run temporary storage system (not more than 1,900 metric tons) so reactors can keep operating without disruption.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §10151

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Congress finds that—

(1)the persons owning and operating civilian nuclear power reactors have the primary responsibility for providing interim storage of spent nuclear fuel from such reactors, by maximizing, to the extent practical, the effective use of existing storage facilities at the site of each civilian nuclear power reactor, and by adding new onsite storage capacity in a timely manner where practical;

(2)the Federal Government has the responsibility to encourage and expedite the effective use of existing storage facilities and the addition of needed new storage capacity at the site of each civilian nuclear power reactor; and

(3)the Federal Government has the responsibility to provide, in accordance with the provisions of this part, not more than 1,900 metric tons of capacity for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors that cannot reasonably provide adequate storage capacity at the sites of such reactors when needed to assure the continued, orderly operation of such reactors.

(b)The purposes of this part are—

(1)to provide for the utilization of available spent nuclear fuel pools at the site of each civilian nuclear power reactor to the extent practical and the addition of new spent nuclear fuel storage capacity where practical at the site of such reactor; and

(2)to provide, in accordance with the provisions of this part, for the establishment of a federally owned and operated system for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at one or more facilities owned by the Federal Government with not more than 1,900 metric tons of capacity to prevent disruptions in the orderly operation of any civilian nuclear power reactor that cannot reasonably provide adequate spent nuclear fuel storage capacity at the site of such reactor when needed.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 10151

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102