Notice of inquiry on waste acceptance issues: Response summary

On May 25, 1994, the Department of Energy published a Notice of Inquiry on Waste Acceptance Issues in the Federal Register. Through this Notice of Inquiry, the Department sought to implement the Secretary's initiative to explore with affected parties various options and methods for sharing the costs related to the financial burden associated with continued on-site storage by eliciting the views of affected parties on: (1) The Department's preliminary view that it does not have a statutory obligation to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel in 1998 in the absence of an operational repository or other suitable storage facility constructed under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended; (2) The need for an interim, away-from-reactor storage facility prior to repository operations; and (3) Options for offsetting, through the Nuclear Waste Fund, a portion of the financial burden that may be incurred by utilities in continuing to store spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites beyond 1998. The Department received a total of 1,111 responses representing 1,476 signatories to this Notice of Inquiry. The responses included submittals from utilities (38 responses); public utility/service commissions and utility regulators (26 responses); Federal, state, and local governments, agencies, and representatives (23 responses); industry and companies (30 responses); public interest groups and other organizations (19 responses); and members of the general public (975 responses)