Committee labels nuclear waste bill ‘unfavorable’

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 10:47 a.m.

"This is unquestionably the biggest victory to date for Nevada on this issue," said Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev. "I've made myself hoarse telling people that nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain is a dangerous and scientifically unsound policy. It looks like my efforts are finally paying off."

Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., both lobbied the U.S. House Committee on Resources for the defeat of the measure.

The bill calls for construction of a temporary nuclear storage facility at the Nevada Test Site until an underground burial site is completed at nearby Yucca Mountain, 100 miles north of Las Vegas. The temporary site would accept commercial nuclear waste by Jan. 31, 2002.

Billions of dollars has been spent on the study of Yucca Mountain as a permanent site.

Sponsors of the bill say the Energy Department is committed by law to begin accepting radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants next year, but the government says it has no place to store that waste.

The bill could still be considered by the House pending a decision by the House Rules Committee.

"This is the first time in the 15-year history of this issue that a congressional committee has stamped this bill as wrong - not just for Nevada, but the rest of the country," Ensign said.