75-20-1201. Purpose -- findings as to nuclear safety -- reservation of nuclear facility approval powers to the people. (1) The people of Montana find that substantial public concern exists regarding nuclear reactors and other major nuclear facilities, including the following unresolved issues:

(a) the generation of waste from nuclear facilities, which remains a severe radiological hazard for many thousands of years and to which no means of containment assuring the protection of future generations exists;

(b) the spending of scarce capital to pay the rapidly increasing costs of nuclear facilities, preventing the use of that capital to finance renewable energy sources which hold more promise for supplying useful energy, providing jobs, and holding down energy costs;

(c) the liability of nuclear facilities to sudden catastrophic accidents which can affect large areas of the state, thousands of people, and countless future generations;

(d) the refusal of utilities, industry, and government to assume normal financial responsibility for compensating victims of such nuclear accidents;

(e) the impact of nuclear facilities on the proliferation of nuclear bombs and terrorism;

(f) the increasing pattern of abandonment of used nuclear facilities by their owners, resulting in radiological dangers to present and future societies as well as higher public costs for perpetual management; and

(g) the detrimental effect of the large uranium import program necessary to the expansion of nuclear power on American energy independence, defense policy, and economic well being.

(2) Therefore, the people of Montana reserve to themselves the exclusive right to determine whether major nuclear facilities are built and operated in this state.

History: En. Sec. 1, I.M. 80, app. Nov. 7, 1978.