States findings of the Legislature and supports expansion of research and development at the Idaho National Laboratory.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 120 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION1 STATING FINDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND ENCOURAGING THE ADVANCEMENT OF USED2 NUCLEAR FUEL REPROCESSING CAPABILITIES IN IDAHO, AFFIRMING ITS COMMIT-3 MENT TO THE 1995 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, AND REQUESTING RENEGOTIATION AND4 MODIFICATION THEREOF WHERE NECESSARY.5 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6 WHEREAS, on May 23, 2025, President Trump issued four executive orders7 to revitalize the United States' nuclear energy industry and to support na-8 tional security and economic growth: Executive Order No. 14299, "Deploying9 Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security"; Executive Or-10 der No. 14300, "Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission";11 Executive Order No. 14301, "Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the De-12 partment of Energy"; and, of particular relevance to this resolution, Execu-13 tive Order No. 14302, "Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base"; and14 WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 14302 directs relevant agencies to recom-15 mend a national policy that supports the management of spent nuclear fuel,16 also referred to as used nuclear fuel (UNF), and high-level waste and the17 development and deployment of advanced fuel cycle capabilities so that a18 safe, secure, and sustainable long-term fuel cycle can be established, and19 to evaluate the reprocessing, also referred to as recycling, of UNF from the20 U.S. Department of War and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) operations and21 describe the steps such federal departments are taking, or must take, to22 improve such reprocessing processes; and23 WHEREAS, the United States continues to face critical challenges in24 managing UNF for commercial, research, and national security reactors; and25 WHEREAS, Idaho is uniquely positioned to be the nation's premier des-26 tination for UNF reprocessing facilities, a status anchored by its existing27 legal framework, unparalleled existing infrastructure, and a highly spe-28 cialized legacy workforce due to Idaho being home to the Idaho National29 Laboratory (INL); and30 WHEREAS, INL is a strategic national asset that houses world-class fa-31 cilities for post-irradiation examination, fuel development, and advanced32 fuel cycle research and development and is where the original technology for33 reprocessing was developed and where UNF and high-level waste from commer-34 cial, research, and national security reactors are currently, but only tem-35 porarily, stored; and36 WHEREAS, INL has produced a specialized, multi-generational workforce37 that has honed its expertise through several decades of continuous fuel re-38 processing operations and waste management at the INL site, thereby creating39 an embedded knowledge base that ensures operational excellence and safety40 that would be nearly impossible to replicate elsewhere; and41 WHEREAS, the strong partnerships between INL and Idaho's universities42 and community colleges ensures a robust talent pipeline for future needs and43

2 includes training for nuclear technicians, operators, and maintenance work-1 ers; and2 WHEREAS, INL is at the forefront of nuclear innovation, with active re-3 search and development in aqueous and pyrochemical separation technologies,4 advanced reactor fuel cycles, and high-assay low-enriched uranium produc-5 tion, thereby solidifying Idaho's capacity for future, cutting-edge repro-6 cessing efforts; and7 WHEREAS, Idaho's legal framework supports the development of nuclear8 technologies with statutes such as section 39-3027, Idaho Code, which pro-9 hibits the enactment of laws banning the use of nuclear energy for electric-10 ity generation unless submitted to the electorate at the next earliest gen-11 eral election; and12 WHEREAS, INL has a strong regulatory framework for radiation protec-13 tion, as evidenced by 10 CFR 835, Occupational Radiation Protection, which,14 among other things, requires compliance with public dose limits consistent15 with federal regulation; and16 WHEREAS, in 1995, the State of Idaho, through the Governor and Attorney17 General, entered into a settlement agreement (1995 settlement agreement)18 with the DOE and U.S. Department of the Navy, which established maximum19 amounts of UNF and other specified nuclear wastes allowed into Idaho for20 treatment at INL and packaging into road-ready containers for more secure21 storage and eventual shipment out of Idaho; and22 WHEREAS, the 1995 settlement agreement designates INL as the DOE's lead23 spent fuel laboratory for UNF; and24 WHEREAS, on January 14, 2026, the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy an-25 nounced the establishment of the Center for Used Fuel Research (Center)26 at INL that will coordinate a broad and diverse collaboration through a27 "hub-and-spoke" network that will encompass other national laboratories28 within the DOE complex, leading universities, and key industry partners29 across the United States, and will extend its support to and actively col-30 laborate with international partners, thereby officially designating INL31 as the DOE's leading institution for critical research, development, and32 demonstration efforts concerning management of UNF, which are separate and33 distinct from INL's critical work under the 1995 settlement agreement; and34 WHEREAS, the DOE's announcement and establishment of the Center rein-35 force and highlight a key aspect of the 1995 settlement agreement by reaf-36 firming INL as the lead spent fuel laboratory for the DOE; and37 WHEREAS, the 1995 settlement agreement defines "treat," as that term38 applies to UNF or high-level waste, as "any method, technique, or process39 designed to change the physical or chemical character of the waste or [spent]40 fuel to render it less hazardous; safer to transport, store, dispose of; or41 reduce in volume"; and42 WHEREAS, the 1995 settlement agreement requires the DOE to "treat" max-43 imum quantities of specified UNF, high-level waste, and transuranic wastes44 in Idaho so that the same can be permanently disposed outside of Idaho; and45 WHEREAS, in April 2024, the State of Idaho and the DOE reached a tar-46 geted waiver of certain provisions of the 1995 settlement agreement to47 permit shipments of high burn-up UNF to INL for research purposes, thereby48 demonstrating Idaho's commitment to advance reprocessing science and enable49 cutting-edge nuclear research; and50

3 WHEREAS, modern reprocessing technologies offer the potential to re-1 cover valuable fissile and fertile materials, reduce high-level waste vol-2 umes with more secure, permanent storage of ultimate by-products, and pro-3 duce reactor-ready fuel to support both national energy security and eco-4 nomic growth; and5 WHEREAS, continued development of reprocessing and advancing nuclear6 fuel cycles in Idaho would create high-paying science and engineering jobs7 and other attractive career opportunities, support INL's and DOE's mission8 and the federal policies advancing nuclear energy announced by President9 Trump's four executive orders, and contribute to national energy indepen-10 dence and economic prosperity.11 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-12 sion of the Sixty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Rep-13 resentatives concurring therein, that the Legislature strongly encourages:14 (1) Expanding reprocessing research, demonstration, and deployment15 activities at INL and related commercialization with the goal of convert-16 ing UNF into reactor-ready fuel for reuse across the country and around the17 world;18 (2) Collaboration between state agencies, the Governor of Idaho, the19 Attorney General of Idaho, INL, DOE, private industry, and academic institu-20 tions to identify and support pilot-scale and industrial-scale reprocessing21 initiatives;22 (3) Proactive engagement with local communities, tribal governments,23 and other stakeholders to ensure transparency, environmental protection,24 and public trust in any reprocessing proposal; and25 (4) Alignment of research and deployment efforts with Idaho's law and26 with federal safety, security, and nonproliferation standards.27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature declares that, in its judg-28 ment, reprocessing of UNF is not inherently in conflict with the 1995 settle-29 ment agreement's terms because:30 (1) The recovered material would be converted into reactor-ready fuel,31 not simply stored temporarily or permanently in Idaho;32 (2) The chemical and physical transformation envisaged by modern re-33 processing is within the scope of the 1995 settlement agreement's definition34 of "treat"; and35 (3) Such activity furthers the objectives of responsible nuclear man-36 agement and leverages Idaho's capabilities for the good of the nation.37 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature maintains that any leftover38 high-level waste and other UNF waste by-product from reprocessing shall re-39 main subject to handling and disposal in accordance with applicable federal40 and state laws and regulations and the 1995 settlement agreement's terms and41 conditions, as may be renegotiated or modified.42 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if the 1995 settlement agreement is de-43 termined to restrict reprocessing activity by INL or shipments of UNF into44 Idaho for temporary storage and reprocessing, the Legislature urges Idaho's45 Governor and Idaho's Attorney General to renegotiate and modify the 199546 settlement agreement to modify such restrictions in exchange for payment of47 significant financial consideration to Idaho and perpetual assurance that48 human safety, environmental protection, and regulatory rigor are preserved.49

4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature directs relevant state1 agencies and requests Idaho's congressional delegation to advocate for2 federal support, such as DOE programs, funding, or regulatory reform, to ad-3 vance reprocessing and fuel-cycle research consistent with this Resolution.4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests Idaho's Governor5 and Idaho's Attorney General to report to the Legislature in the 2027 leg-6 islative session on progress made pursuant to this Resolution, including7 steps taken to negotiate federal commitments of significant compensation8 to Idaho, such that the Governor and the Attorney General may consider mod-9 ifying the 1995 settlement agreement to allow additional UNF or high-level10 waste into Idaho, if any, and to further support INL in developing research11 programs, and engage private industry and other stakeholders.12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and is hereby13 authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Resolution to the congres-14 sional delegation representing the State of Idaho in the Congress of the15 United States, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Governor16 of Idaho, the Attorney General of Idaho, and Idaho National Laboratory lead-17 ership.18