US House Democrats rip White House's international nuclear plan

Washington (Platts)--1Mar2006

Democratic staffers on the US House Energy and Commerce Committee are
ripping the Bush administration for endorsing a controversial international
nuclear waste proposal without adequate scrutiny. 

     The Democrat's views and estimates document, which was obtained by Platts
Tuesday and was written in response to the president's fiscal year 2007 energy
budget proposal, said Bush's multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade Global Nuclear
Energy Partnership "raises several concerns." 

     And it questioned the wisdom of GNEP given the Dept of Energy's "mixed"
track record in managing large-scale projects. 

     The document said that GNEP "is likely to divert managerial attention"
from the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, could take money from the
Nuclear Waste Fund, and does not give adequate consideration to the "highly
controversial and complex" matter of nuclear waste reprocessing. 

     The document also criticizes the administration for proposing small
funding increases for renewable energy, despite pledges to emphasize new clean
energy technologies and for failing to ensure that the Nevada repository gets
intended money from the Nuclear Waste Fund. The document said that the nuclear
waste would get $660-mil from ratepayers in 2007, of which only $156-mil would
go toward Yucca Mountain. 

     The notice also said the president's clean energy proposals "sound
impressive" but amount to less than a 1% increase in renewable energy
spending, which is "achieved through shifting funds from various accounts."

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