By Bruce Geiselman
March 7
U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said he plans to send a legislative proposal to Congress that would speed along development of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, which would permanently store high level radioactive waste.
His announcement March 6 brought quick reaction from Nevada´s two senators, who introduced their own legislation that would block the Yucca Mountain project.
The Bush administration wants to send radioactive waste, including spent fuel from nuclear plants, to the Nevada desert, 90 miles outside of Las Vegas. The legislation Bodman is proposing would facilitate licensing and construction of the geologic repository within the mountain. The legislation would permanently withdraw land surrounding the mountain from public use and eliminate the current statutory 70,000 metric ton cap on disposal capacity at Yucca Mountain. The Energy Department said it wants to allow maximum use of the mountain´s technical capacity.
Also included in the legislation are proposals for streamlining Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing processes and a means of consolidating duplicative environmental reviews.
While the administration says consolidating the nation´s high-level nuclear waste at a single, isolated site is in the best interests of safety and national security, Nevada´s two senators disagree.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., introduced legislation that would require nuclear waste to be stored at the facility where it is produced.
"It would be dangerous and irresponsible to ship the most dangerous substance known to man through cities and small towns, and past schools, hospitals and businesses so it could be buried 90 miles outside of Las Vegas," said Reid, who is also the Senate majority leader.
Their bill would also require the federal government to take responsibility for possession, stewardship, maintenance, and monitoring of the waste and increase safety at all nuclear power plants by providing funding for additional security to guard against terrorist attacks.
However, energy officials said that more than 55,000 metric tons of commercial spent nuclear fuel and Defense high-level waste is being stored at more than 100 above-ground sites in 39 states.
"By entombing it deep in Yucca Mountain ˇX a safe and secure permanent geologic repository ˇX we can ensure public safety for thousands of generations," said Ward Sproat, director of the Energy Department´s Office of Radioactive Waste Management.
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