Federal official won’t say if veto threat still holds

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 11:50 a.m.

Lake Barrett, acting chief of the Energy Department's civilian nuclear waste storage program, said it's premature to say if the veto promise is still valid.

"I'm not going to speculate," said Lake Barrett, acting chief of the DOE's civilian nuclear waste storage program. "(Last year), I had an administration position, and it was very clear. The administration has not taken a position (this year) but it will when it's time. It's premature."

On Jan. 6, the first day of the 106th Congress, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., reintroduced a bill to send highly radioactive spent fuel to the Nevada Test Site for interim storage until a permanent repository is completed at Yucca Mountain.

Since 1995, President Clinton has promised to veto any legislation placing nuclear waste in Nevada on an interim basis. The White House has cited environmental risks and concerns that interim storage would divert resources from a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

But last month, the DOE released a "viability assessment" saying there is nothing so far that would disqualify Yucca Mountain as a permanent site.

Last year, Barrett told a House panel that a bill targeting Nevada for interim storage of nuclear waste would be vetoed by President Clinton, a promise touted by the state's congressional delegation.

But on Wednesday, Barrett declined to comment when asked if the viability assessment might change the administration's position this year. He was approached after speaking to a conference of nuclear power executives and scientists.

Barrett told the group that Energy Secretary Bill Richardson plans to discuss the report with members of Congress, nuclear utilities and other interested parties.

"There are still uncertainties regarding how this (viability assessment) will translate into exactly what the dialogue will be between Secretary Richardson and the parties," Barrett told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Barrett said there are still questions about the suitability of Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage. He said the department hopes to resolve those issues by July 2001 when the DOE plans to make a recommendation to the president on whether Yucca Mountain can safely store nuclear spent fuel.

If that hurdle is cleared, the department will seek a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2002.

The DOE estimates the total cost of the repository will be $43.8 billion.

If approved, the repository would not be ready to receive spent fuel from the nation's nuclear power plants until at least 2010.