©2025 League of Conservation Voters
1982 Scorecard Vote
107
281
45
The vote is on the Stratton (R-NY) motion to kill a provision of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorizations bill (H.R. 2330) which banned the reprocessing of spent civilian nuclear fuel for use in making nuclear weapons. The military use of commercial nuclear power plants would give the nuclear industry another subsidy and a new “national security” rationale. It would also mean that several million cubic feet of nuclear wastes would be transported from power plants to bomb plants via trucks on U.S. highways. After that, the spent nuclear fuel rods would be converted into a liquid form which is more dangerous. Under the bill, the U.S. commercial nuclear program would continue to be kept carefully separate from the military as it has been in the past. Defeat of the Stratton motion set a good example for other nations and was an important victory in the fight against nuclear proliferation. The motion was supported by the Reagan Administration, but was defeated 107-281; December 2, 1982. NO is the pro-environmental vote. The prohibition was kept in the final NRC authorizations bill passed by Congress.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters