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.

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.

(Pub. L. 97–425, title I, § 131, Jan. 7, 1983, 96 Stat. 2229.)