Department of Energy National Security and Military Applications of Nuclear Energy Authorization Act of 1980 Statement on Signing S. 673 Into Law.

I have signed S. 673, the Department of Energy National Security and Military Applications of Nuclear Energy Authorization Act of 1980.

In addition to authorizing appropriations in fiscal year 1980 for the Department of Energy's national security programs, S. 673 authorizes the creation of a facility to demonstrate the feasibility of storing certain nuclear wastes from defense activities. This project is known as the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), and its proposed location is in New Mexico. Specifically, the bill provides that:

"The Secretary of Energy shall proceed with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant construction project. . . Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is authorized as a defense activity of the Department of Energy . . . for the express purpose of providing a research and development facility to demonstrate the safe disposal of radioactive wastes resulting from the defense activities and programs of the United States exempted from regulation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

In signing S. 673, I am not endorsing this approach to the WIPP facility. As evidenced by the efforts of the Interagency Review Group on Nuclear Waste Management, which I established in March 1978, my administration is committed to the safe management of nuclear wastes. I have reviewed a number of alternatives for managing both defense and commercial wastes, and I believe that the future of WIPP ought to be resolved only in the context of an overall nuclear waste management policy. I will be making a comprehensive statement on the management of nuclear wastes in the near future.