TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:

We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, In 1945, the first nuclear weapons were produced by the United States; and

WHEREAS, In 1954, the atomic energy act was passed by Congress directing the federal government to promote the peaceful use of atomic energy with the understanding that disposal of the highly radioactive waste produced would be the responsibility of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, In 1956, the national academy of sciences recommended deep geologic disposal of the long-lived, highly radioactive wastes from nuclear reactors, suggesting that buried salt deposits and other rock types be investigated for permanent repositories; and

WHEREAS, During the 1970s, the federal government began screening sites to be developed for a high-level radioactive waste repository; and

WHEREAS, Congress passed the nuclear waste policy act of 1982, which established a repository site screening process and a schedule leading to federal waste acceptance for disposal beginning in 1998; and

WHEREAS, During the 1980s, the department of energy named potentially acceptable repository sites only to postpone the authorization for site development; and

WHEREAS, In 1987, Congress adopted the nuclear waste policy amendments act; and

WHEREAS, In 1989, the secretary of energy determined that the nuclear waste program would not succeed and developed a new strategy that called for waste acceptance beginning at a repository in 2003; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the 1990s, Congress, the department of energy, and the environmental protection agency all worked to develop a successful nuclear waste repository program; and

WHEREAS, The Yucca mountain nuclear waste repository was designated to be a deep geological repository storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and other high-level radioactive waste; and

WHEREAS, Federal funding for the development of the Yucca mountain nuclear waste repository ended in 2010; and

WHEREAS, The blue ribbon commission, established by the secretary of energy, released a final report on January 26, 2012, that contained many recommendations for nuclear waste repository development; and

WHEREAS, For over fifty years, the citizens across the United States have not had any long-term storage site for the high-level radioactive waste that is currently stored on-site at various nuclear facilities around the country;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress, the department of energy, and the environmental protection agency establish and develop a site for the permanent siting and development of a federal nuclear waste repository.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy.

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