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8-Org_Letter_to_DOE_Secretary_Wright_070825.pdf - guest post
8-Org_Letter_to_DOE_Secretary_Wright_070825.pdf
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July 8, 2025
The Honorable Christopher A. Wright
Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
Dear Secretary Wright,
Our organizations welcome the momentum you have created around new nuclear
development in the U.S. There are many things the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) can do to
advance the efficient use of nuclear energy and carry out its energy dominance and national
security missions.
We are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss how we can best support the
Administration’s efforts in one critical area—the restoration of a highly functioning program to
meet DOE’s legal responsibility to manage and dispose of the nation’s commercial and legacy
defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).1 Doing so would result
in an immense savings to the U.S. taxpayers. The remaining federal financial liabilities for inaction
are estimated today between $37.6 billion and $44.5 billion for commercial SNF,2 while the
liability for the Department’s inability to remove its own legacy HLW and SNF from DOE sites
was estimated in FY 2023 at $23 billion3 and growing. Moreover, continued inaction on SNF and
HLW will impair the ability of the country to carry out vital cleanup and national security missions
and may inhibit new nuclear development.
It has been forty-two years since Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act
establishing a national program for the management and disposal of SNF and HLW, and much has
been learned about what constitutes an effective SNF/HLW program. Recent successes in Finland,
Canada, Switzerland, and Sweden—nations actively pursuing SNF/HLW solutions with
technologies first advanced in the U.S.—highlight the tremendous opportunity that exists for
refreshing our own program.
1 SNF and HLW are currently stored at over 100 sites in 39 states across the country. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 2024
Spent Nuclear Fuel and Reprocessing Waste Inventory Report. [Report]
2 U.S. Department of Energy. (2024, November 19) “The Department of Energy Nuclear Waste Fund’s Fiscal Year 2024 Financial
Statement Audit” [Report]
3 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, (2024, February 28). “Accounting for Environmental
Liabilities” [PowerPoint slides]
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As you ably noted during your confirmation hearing, the development of any large
infrastructure project, including those involving nuclear technologies, requires buy-in at the state
and local levels. And, as you also pointed out, the SNF/HLW issue should not be as controversial
as it has become. The volume of the material needing management is relatively small, and the
technology for proper management is well understood and developed.
While the details need further consideration, we are encouraged that bipartisan
Congressional legislation is being discussed that focuses attention on principles and issues
important to putting this multi-generational program on a path to success. These include
development of:
• A governance and funding structure that maximizes opportunities for sustained
performance over the decades required for completion of this program, including:
o An interim step to re-establish an office within the Department, reporting directly
to the Secretary of Energy and solely responsible for the back-end of the fuel
cycle;
o The formation of a new, single-purpose organization—independent of DOE—to
manage the SNF and HLW program long-term; and
o Sustainable, annual access to the Nuclear Waste Fund balance and accumulating
interest to effectively implement the program.
• An integrated program that includes storage, transportation, examination of the role for
reprocessing, and geologic disposal elements; and
• A collaborative process that brings about necessary alignment of federal, state, local,
and Tribal governments on the siting of necessary facilities.
The good news is that some funding already exists to pay for a successful SNF/HLW
program. The Nuclear Waste Fund—with a balance of more than $49.5 billion4 and growing—
was established by the NWPA as a fee on nuclear electricity generation paid, directly or indirectly,
by consumers of that electricity. The time has come to make those people and companies whole.
It is time to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. It is time to be accountable to the communities
that have long supported our national security, energy, and government-sponsored research and
development activities. In doing so, it may bolster interest in some of these same communities to
host new nuclear and nuclear waste projects.
The hurdles that have thus far prevented progress can be overcome, leading to greater
confidence in the nation’s ability to manage current and future waste and facilitating the
deployment of new, advanced nuclear technologies. Thank you for your leadership, and we look
forward to meeting with you to discuss how we can work together to advance solutions. To
coordinate a meeting with our organizations,5 please contact Katrina McMurrian, the Nuclear
Waste Strategy Coalition’s Executive Director, at katrina@theNWSC.org or 615.905.1375.
4 U.S. Department of Energy. (2024, November 19) “The Department of Energy Nuclear Waste Fund’s Fiscal Year 2024 Financial
Statement Audit” [Report]
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Sincerely,
Craig Piercy
Executive Director/CEO
American Nuclear Society (ANS)
Wayne Norton
Chair, Decommissioning Plant Coalition (DPC) Steering
Committee, and President & CEO, Yankee Atomic Electric
Company
Brent Gerry
Chair, Energy Communities Alliance Executive Board, and
Mayor/CEO, West Richland, WA
Tricia Pridemore
President, National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners (NARUC), and
Commissioner, Georgia Public Service Commission
Maria G. Korsnick
President & Chief Executive Officer
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Katherine L. Peretick
Chair, Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC), and
Commissioner, Michigan Public Service Commission
Charles Fairhurst, Ph.D.
Science Panel Member
Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel
Todd Abrajano
President & CEO
United States Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC)
cc: Mr. Theodore “Ted” J. Garrish, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
Dr. Michael Goff, Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office
of Nuclear Energy
Mr. Paul Murray, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste
Disposition, Office of Nuclear Energy
5 For more information:
• American Nuclear Society (ANS): https://www.ans.org/
• Energy Communities Alliance (ECA): https://www.energyca.org/
• National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC): https://www.naruc.org/
• Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI): https://nei.org/
• Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition (NWSC): https://thenwsc.org/
• Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel: https://sustainablefuelcyclesciencepanel.org/
• U.S. Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC): https://www.usnic.org/
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