42 U.S.C. § 10203

Current through P.L. 118-107 (published on www.congress.gov on 11/21/2024)

Section 10203 - Technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in field of spent fuel storage and disposal

(a) Statement of policy

It shall be the policy of the United States to cooperate with and provide technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in the field of spent fuel storage and disposal.

(b) Publication of joint notice; update

(1) Within 90 days of January 7, 1983, the Secretary and the Commission shall publish a joint notice in the Federal Register stating that the United States is prepared to cooperate with and provide technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in the fields of at-reactor spent fuel storage; away-from-reactor spent fuel storage; monitored, retrievable spent fuel storage; geologic disposal of spent fuel; and the health, safety, and environmental regulation of such activities. The notice shall summarize the resources that can be made available for international cooperation and assistance in these fields through existing programs of the Department and the Commission, including the availability of:

(i) data from past or ongoing research and development projects;

(ii) consultations with expert Department or Commission personnel or contractors; and

(iii) liaison with private business entities and organizations working in these fields.

(2) The joint notice described in the preceding subparagraph shall be updated and reissued annually for 5 succeeding years.

(c) Notification to non-nuclear weapon states; expressions of interest

Following publication of the annual joint notice referred to in paragraph (2),¹ the Secretary of State shall inform the governments of non-nuclear weapon states and, as feasible, the organizations operating nuclear powerplants in such states, that the United States is prepared to cooperate with and provide technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in the fields of spent fuel storage and disposal, as set forth in the joint notice. The Secretary of State shall also solicit expressions of interest from non-nuclear weapon state governments and non-nuclear weapon state nuclear power reactor operators concerning their participation in expanded United States cooperation and technical assistance programs in these fields. The Secretary of State shall transmit any such expressions of interest to the Department and the Commission.

(d) Funding requests

With his budget presentation materials for the Department and the Commission for fiscal years 1984 through 1989, the President shall include funding requests for an expanded program of cooperation and technical assistance with non-nuclear weapon states in the fields of spent fuel storage and disposal as appropriate in light of expressions of interest in such cooperation and assistance on the part of non-nuclear weapon state governments and non-nuclear weapon state nuclear power reactor operators.

(e) "Non-nuclear weapon state" defined

For the purposes of this subsection,² the term "non-nuclear weapon state" shall have the same meaning as that set forth in article IX of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (21 U.S.C.³ 438).

(f) Unauthorized actions

Nothing in this subsection ² shall authorize the Department or the Commission to take any action not authorized under existing law.

¹ So in original. Probably should be "paragraph (2) of subsection (b),".

² So in original. Probably should be "section".

³ So in original. Probably should be "UST".

42 U.S.C. § 10203

Pub. L. 97-425, title II, §223, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2254.

EDITORIAL NOTES

REFERENCES IN TEXTThe Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, referred to in subsec. (e), is set out in 21 UST 483; TIAS 6839.

Commission: The term "Commission" means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Department: The term "Department" means the Department of Energy.
Secretary: The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Energy.
State: The term "State" means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
disposal: The term "disposal" means the emplacement in a repository of high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or other highly radioactive material with no foreseeable intent of recovery, whether or not such emplacement permits the recovery of such waste.
storage: The term "storage" means retention of high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or transuranic waste with the intent to recover such waste or fuel for subsequent use, processing, or disposal.