U.S. Senate panel approves Yucca nuclear waste site
June 5
(Reuters) -
A divided U.S. Senate Energy Committee set
aside Nevada's objections on Wednesday and gave its blessing to President
George W. Bush's decision to bury deadly nuclear waste from across the nation
in the state's Yucca Mountain.
On a 13-10 vote, the panel sent a resolution
to override Nevada's veto of the $58 billion project to the Democratic-led
Senate for anticipated final congressional approval within the next two months.
"We will prevail," said Sen. Frank
Murkowski of Alaska, the panel's ranking Republican and a chief proponent of
plans to build the nation's first permanent nuclear waste repository in Nevada,
90 miles (145 km) northwest of Las Vegas.
A similar resolution passed the
Republican-led House of Representatives last month on a bipartisan vote of
306-117.
Congressional approval would clear the way
for the U.S. Energy Department to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
license the project, scheduled to open in 2010 and hold 70,000 tonnes of
radioactive material.
Nuclear power plants produce more than 20
percent of the country's energy and many waste storage tanks are nearly full.
The government has faced lawsuits for failing to meet a 1998 deadline to open a
permanent nuclear waste storage site.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham hailed the
committee's action on Wednesday as a bipartisan step toward "enhancing our
national security and environmental protection."
Abraham said it is now up to the full Senate
to decide "whether to leave nuclear waste stranded at 131 sites in 39
states or allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make the independent
determination that Yucca Mountain is suitable to serve as a geological
repository."
In a setback for opponents on Wednesday,
Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico joined two other
Democrats -- Bob Graham of Florida and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- in voting
to override Nevada's veto.
'IT ISN'T OVER YET'
One Republican, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell
of Colorado, broke ranks and voted to sustain the veto.
"It's still an uphill battle, but it
isn't over yet," said Tessa Hafen, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Whip
Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat leading the charge against the project.
"We actually did better than expected
today," said Hafen, noting earlier predictions the committee would back
the project by a wider margin.
"They didn't get the overwhelming
victory they expected to buy," Hafen said, referring to the money the
nuclear power industry has spent lobbying Capitol Hill.
Republicans said they figured Reid was able
to use his personal power of persuasion to get a couple of other Democrats to
side with him on Wednesday -- at least in the committee.
In addition to Nevada, the project has been
opposed by a number of environmental and public interest groups who agree with
the state that it would be unsafe.
The Bush administration contends $4 billion
in studies over the past two decades have shown Yucca Mountain to be a safe and
sound site for a nuclear waste repository
In April, Nevada Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn
vetoed Bush's decision to accept Abraham's recommendation to build the
repository in Nevada. Guinn has also filed court challenges.
Bingaman, in voting to move ahead with the
project, said: "Although the governor raised several serious questions
about the geology of Yucca Mountain, the design of the repository, the
credibility of DOE's (Energy Department's) computer models and the safety of
waste shipments -- those questions are best answered by the technical experts
at NRC."
"Nothing in the record ... justifies our
terminating the program and preventing DOE from applying to the NRC for a
license," he said.
Under a 1982 federal law on nuclear waste
disposal, a state governor may veto the president's plans to put a depository
in his or her state. The veto can be overridden by Congress with a majority
vote in each chamber.