The Senate Environment and Energy Committee this morning unanimously released a

bill that would modify the permit review process under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, to include the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection to determine whether a nuclear energy generation facility’s method for the storage or disposal of radioactive waste material that is produced or generated by the facility is safe.

Senate Bill S-3870 is not without its detractors in the environmental community, whom state Senator Linda Greenstein (D-14) acknowledged in her closing remarks.

"I'm concerned about some of the things I heard here today, when my environmental friends are concerned about safety issues," said Greenstein. "I realize times have changed and there are more safety provisions, but I'm concerned about the testimony and while I will vote to release it from committee, I may vote differently on the floor."

Luke Pavlov of the NJ League of Conservation was one of the bill's critics. He also noted that while nuclear energy plays a significant role in the development if energy, "I have concerns about the citing of waste disposals and costs to ratepayers." Moreover, Pavlov said, the bill in its current form "removes safety guardrails and allows the DEP commissioner to have oversight."

The bill's backers like it for that reason, making the case to the committee that it would remove red tape barriers to the storage of nuclear waste.

It was one of several bills that passed out of committee today, specifically advanced with the consent of the Sherrill Administration, which is prioritizing expanding the state's energy grid. Another was S-3183, which "modifies various provisions of [the] State's renewable energy incentive programs; requires electric public utilities to interconnect certain solar projects," one of several specifically pro solar energy bills advanced on the day.

From the nuclear waste bill:

The regional electric grid is facing unprecedented load growth driven by rising demand and constraints on new supply entry that risks grid reliability for New Jersey ratepayers.  Current low capacity has resulted in record-high capacity market clearing prices, which are being passed on to ratepayers and exacerbating the State’s energy affordability crisis.  A reliable, resilient, and affordable energy system is critical to the future of the State’s economy and the health, safety, and prosperity of all its citizens.

Nuclear energy is a zero-emission and highly reliable source of baseload energy, and nuclear power plants maintain the highest capacity factor of any electric generation resource, averaging over 92 percent, with some advanced nuclear reactors reaching a capacity factor of 98 percent, which means that they can produce their maximum power output nearly continuously.  Likewise, nuclear power plants possess the highest effective load carrying capacity of any electric generating resource, rated at 98 percent in the summer and 96 percent in the winter, meaning that they are almost always capable of delivering power to the grid, regardless of weather and other external factors.  Nuclear energy resources display inherent operational reliability, fuel security, and proven physical resilience to extreme weather events that outpace intermittent generation sources.

...For decades, New Jersey has operated under a statutory restriction that acts as a de facto moratorium, prohibiting the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection from approving certain permits for new nuclear facilities pending federal approval of a permanent high-level was repository.  Extensive operational history across the United States has proven on-site dry cask storage to be highly secure and effective, and in light of the current energy crisis and the rapid commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies, this legacy restriction now serves as an obsolete and artificial barrier to deploying necessary baseload energy infrastructure.

The Legislature therefore determines that it is in the public interest of the residents of New Jersey to remove outdated statutory barriers and promote the construction and operation of advanced nuclear reactors in the State as a vital source zero-emission source of reliable and affordable baseload energy.