Idaho senator revives plan to store nuclear waste

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 11:18 a.m.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has resurrected a temporary nuclear waste storage measure that could allow highly radioactive fuel from nuclear power plants to arrive at the Nevada Test Site after 2002.

Craig spoke to the National Energy Resources Organization Wednesday outlining his plan to tack parts of a stalled storage bill as riders on the Energy and Water appropriation measure. He said he is working on language.

Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev., said they are aware of Craig's plan and will strip any temporary storage from the budget package. The bill is ready for a floor vote.

"We'll wait and see," Reid said of Craig's proposal.

Craig's state hosts high and low-level nuclear wastes stored at the DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, which generated radioactive fuel for the nuclear weapons program.

Chances of a stand-alone temporary storage bill evaporated earlier this month when the Senate failed to limit debate on it.

The legislation faces a veto from President Clinton, who believes the U.S. Department of Energy's studies of Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as a permanent repository should continue without diverting money for temporary storage. If Yucca Mountain is found suitable, it won't open until the year 2010.

And House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich, R- Ga., promised Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., that he would not schedule further action on the temporary storage bill this year. Ensign is challenging Reid for his Senate seat.

Craig also told the industry group meeting in Washington, D.C. that he intends to stop the Department of Energy from using federal nuclear wastes funds paid by nuclear ratepayers for legal battles against nuclear utilities.

The Idaho senator also wants a new energy secretary who will replace Federico Pena to deal with the high-level nuclear waste issue which has been a political hot potato for 30 years.

In a related development in the House, Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., sent a letter to Gingrich expressing his displeasure at the speaker's decision not to allow a vote on temporary storage. Norwood, as a Commerce Committee member, was an original co-sponsor of the waste bill.

Action now would send a clear message to Clinton that "it is time for the federal government to honor its promises," Norwood said, according to Congress Daily.

Norwood referred to Ensign's tactics to delay action on the bill this year and last session. Temporary nuclear storage efforts have been stalled by procedural measures in Congress. The House vote was 307 in favor of temporary storage on Oct. 30.

But the Senate and the House each offered separate bills and staff could not work out satisfactory language. The Senate also did not have the 67 votes in hand to override a presidential veto, congressional staff said.

Gingrich's office has not responded to the letter. The majority leader released a brief statement the day of the Senate cloture vote, saying a "crowded calendar and the strong opposition of some members" contributed to his decision not to schedule a vote on the matter.