1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             supporting comprehensive federal legislation to 
  1.3             establish an integrated spent fuel management storage 
  1.4             facility.  
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, the United States Department of Energy is 
  1.7   obligated under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to begin storing 
  1.8   spent fuel by January 31, 1998; and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, the Department of Energy has announced that it 
  1.10  will not have a permanent repository in operation earlier than 
  1.11  2010; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires customers 
  1.13  who benefit from the electricity generated by nuclear power 
  1.14  plants to pay a fee of one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour of 
  1.15  electricity produced by nuclear power plants; and 
  1.16     WHEREAS, this fee generates approximately $600,000,000 per 
  1.17  year and, since its inception in 1983, has provided more than 
  1.18  $10,500,000,000, including interest, to the federal Nuclear 
  1.19  Waste Fund; and 
  1.20     WHEREAS, electric utility customers in the State of 
  1.21  Minnesota have paid over $200,000,000 into the Nuclear Waste 
  1.22  Fund, and the money received by the Nuclear Waste Fund has not 
  1.23  been committed to the Nuclear Waste Program; such that a 
  1.24  significant portion of Nuclear Waste Fund receipts have been 
  1.25  relied on to offset the federal budget deficit; and 
  2.1      WHEREAS, approximately 29 percent of the electricity 
  2.2   consumed in Minnesota is provided by the two nuclear power 
  2.3   plants located in the state; and 
  2.4      WHEREAS, several state legislative and regulatory groups, 
  2.5   including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the 
  2.6   Energy Council, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and 
  2.7   the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, 
  2.8   have passed resolutions calling on the federal government to 
  2.9   take the necessary steps to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel 
  2.10  from utilities in 1998; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.11     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.12  that it believes that the Department of Energy has a 
  2.13  responsibility to begin accepting spent fuel from utilities in 
  2.14  1998.  
  2.15     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of 
  2.16  Minnesota that it supports immediate comprehensive federal 
  2.17  legislation to establish an integrated spent fuel management 
  2.18  program, which includes:  
  2.19     improvements to the siting and licensing process for a 
  2.20     permanent repository; 
  2.21     a storage and shipping canister system which will minimize 
  2.22     the cost of transporting spent nuclear fuel; and 
  2.23     a central, interim spent fuel storage facility capable of 
  2.24     allowing the Department of Energy to begin accepting spent 
  2.25     nuclear fuel in 1998.  
  2.26     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.27  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.28  memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.29  States, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate, 
  2.30  the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of 
  2.31  Representatives, the Secretary of Energy, and Minnesota's 
  2.32  Senators and Representatives in Congress.