Friday, June 27, 2008 | 12:35 p.m.
WASHINGTON — In another sign of Congress’ increasing frustration with the slow pace of the Yucca Mountain project, a longtime nuclear advocate today announced an effort to have the private sector help the Energy Department develop interim nuclear waste storage sites separate from Nevada.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, has put forward a bill that would allow $1 billion annually from the fund designated for Yucca Mountain to instead go for developing nuclear recycling and interim waste storage sites run by public-private ventures.
The bill meshes with the interests of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s main lobby, which has been quietly seeking communities that may be interested in hosting an interim waste site.
It also would allow a stable funding stream for nuclear waste projects separate from Congress, where the Nevada delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has successfully slashed Yucca Mountain’s budget in recent years.
Domenici, who is retiring this year, has been a longtime advocate of waste recycling, even as he supports Yucca Mountain. However, skeptics call recycling a boondoggle that will take a generation to develop, reminding that this country halted recycling efforts during the Carter administration.
Domenici issued statement saying his bill “takes the first step toward resolving the question of nuclear waste.”
Domenici’s legislation would create a program for developing up to two recycling projects. Costs would be split 50-50 between the Energy Department and the private sector. The bill would also provide incentive funds for communities that agree to host a storage site. Two storage sites would be sought.
Funds would come from the $20 billion amassed to develop Yucca Mountain from utility rate payers in states reliant on nuclear energy.
Previous industry efforts to build a private nuclear waste storage site on tribal land in Utah stalled.
Domenici’s bill is also sponsored by Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who is taking a lead on nuclear issues in the Senate, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana.
The legislation comes as the Energy Department just last week presented its formal application for Yucca Mountain to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a milestone for the department, yet one that comes so late that Congress is increasingly looking for interim measures.
Under the department’s most optimistic scenario, it believes Yucca Mountain could open by 2017, almost 20 years late.
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