§10163 Monitored Retrievable Storage Commission

Summary

Creates a Monitored Retrievable Storage Review Commission of three members. The President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House must appoint the members within 30 days after December 22, 1987. Members must be highly qualified to judge whether a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility is needed as part of the Nation’s nuclear waste system. The Commission must write a report for Congress that reviews the Secretary’s evaluation, collects comments and data from affected parties (including States with possible sites), studies the technical usefulness of an MRS, and makes a recommendation on using an MRS to help with packaging and handling, to add flexibility to repository schedules, and to provide temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel accepted for disposal. The Commission must compare an MRS to keeping spent fuel at reactors before final disposal. That comparison must consider effects on repository design and construction; waste package design, fabrication, and standardization; waste preparation; transportation systems; the reliability of the national disposal system; the Secretary’s ability to meet contracts to accept spent fuel; and economic effects, including costs to electric utility ratepayers for both at‑reactor storage and building/operating an MRS. The report and recommendation must go to Congress by November 1, 1989. Members are paid at Executive Schedule Level III for each day worked and get travel expenses and per diem as allowed by law. The Commission can hire staff (up to GS‑18 pay), hold hearings, take testimony, request agency information, get GSA support on a reimbursable basis, hire temporary experts, and must end 60 days after sending the report.