50 U.S.C. § 2603 Plan For Deactivation and Decommissioning of Nonoperational Defense Nuclear Facilities

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 50 U.S.C. § 2603

(a) In general

The Secretary of Energy shall, every four years beginning in 2025, develop and subsequently carry out a plan for the activities of the Department of Energy relating to the deactivation and decommissioning of nonoperational defense nuclear facilities.

(b) Elements

The plan required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) A list of nonoperational defense nuclear facilities, prioritized for deactivation and decommissioning based on the potential to reduce risks to human health, property, or the environment and to maximize cost savings.

(2) An assessment of the life cycle costs of each nonoperational defense nuclear facility during the period beginning on the date on which the plan is submitted under subsection (d) and ending on the earlier of-

(A) the date that is 25 years after the date on which the plan is submitted; or

(B) the estimated date for deactivation and decommissioning of the facility.

(3) An estimate of the cost and time needed to deactivate and decommission each nonoperational defense nuclear facility.

(4) A schedule for when the Office of Environmental Management will accept each nonoperational defense nuclear facility for deactivation and decommissioning.

(5) An estimate of costs that could be avoided by-

(A) accelerating the cleanup of nonoperational defense nuclear facilities; or

(B) other means, such as reusing such facilities for another purpose.

(c) Plan for transfer of responsibility for certain facilities

The Secretary shall, during 2025, develop and subsequently carry out a plan under which the Administrator shall transfer, by March 31, 2029, to the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management the responsibility for decontaminating and decommissioning facilities of the Administration that the Secretary determines are nonoperational as of September 30, 2024.

(d) Submission to Congress

Not later than March 31, 2025, and every four years thereafter,,¹ the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes-

(1) the plan required by subsection (a);

(2) a description of the deactivation and decommissioning actions expected to be taken during the following fiscal year pursuant to the plan;

(3) in the case of the report submitted during 2025, the plan required by subsection (c); and

(4) a description of the deactivation and decommissioning actions taken at each nonoperational defense nuclear facility during the period following the date on which the previous report required by this section was submitted.