Revised bill would put nuke waste at Test Site

Mark D. Preston

Wednesday, April 14, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A House subcommittee debated today whether to create an interim facility to store nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site while the Department of Energy determines whether Yucca Mountain is a viable permanent repository to store high-level spent nuclear fuel.

The debate began early this morning. At press time the House Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power had not yet voted on the proposal, but it was expected to pass later this afternoon.

In an effort to move the legislation swiftly to the House floor for a vote, Republicans and Democrats who support creating an interim dump and permanent repository in Nevada agreed Tuesday to change the original wording of the legislation.

Some of the key points of the compromise includes encouraging nuclear utilities with pending claims against the federal government to drop their lawsuits in exchange for the Department of Energy assuming stewardship of the spent fuel on site.

This is similar to a proposal floated by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson earlier this year.

The DOE's on-site stewardship does not stop the original bill's initial intent requiring the Test Site to begin accepting waste by 2003 and Yucca Mountain by 2010.

The compromise also waives future DOE liability from the nuclear utilities if it does not meet the deadlines outlined in the legislation.

"I believe the changes are necessary to get the nuclear-waste program back on track," subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said.

"We have a real solution. ... We have on-site storage options for utilities to take advantage of in the near term, we have on-site interim storage in the mid-term and we have a permanent repository in the long term that we believe will establish an adequate funding source to construct by the year 2010."

However, anti-interim storage lawmakers such as Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., said today's hearing was "a fruitless exercise" because there are not enough votes in the Senate to pass the legislation and President Clinton has vowed to veto any interim waste bill.

"Let there be no mistake about it, this bill is unlikely to ever become law," Markey said.

Barton also was criticized by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., for offering a new bill at today's hearing and not providing enough time for subcommittee members to review its language.

Barton responded that there will be time to debate the bill and offer amendments when the full committee takes it up.