Reid explains Yucca problems to Energy chief

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Sept. 17, 1999 | 11:41 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., met privately with U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson on Thursday to discuss a nuclear waste storage bill pending in Congress.

"I explained that the bill before Congress right now makes dramatic changes to an already bad piece of legislation," Reid said in a statement issued this morning.

"This bill would jeopardize the health and safety of Nevadans and all Americans because it strips the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of its ability to establish radiation levels."

A Department of Energy spokesman this morning reinforced the agency's position against the proposed changes in the waste bill.

"Secretary Richardson assured Sen. Reid the administration continues to oppose any legislative provision that would remove the EPA from its traditional role in setting radiation protection standards," spokesman Stu Nagurka said today.

After meeting with Reid, Richardson spoke to a group of about 80 Hispanic leaders from Nevada during a luncheon Thursday at the Department of Energy.

The luncheon was part of a Hispanic conference, hosted in Washington by Reid this week, aimed at strengthening the voice of Hispanics in Nevada politics.

Richardson is President Clinton's highest-ranking Hispanic cabinet member.

Reid and Richardson held their brief private meeting in the hallway outside the luncheon room to discuss a Senate bill that accelerates a timeline to bring the nation's nuclear waste to Nevada by 2007. The waste would be stored permanently in a repository inside Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The meeting was significant because Nevada's four congressional representatives adamantly oppose the bill and are urging Clinton to oppose it. The Department of Energy is a key player in the nuclear waste discussions.

Reid has been emphasizing that he opposes nuclear waste in Nevada since he was quoted in the Capitol Hill newsletter, CongressDaily, as saying he would not staunchly oppose the current version of the nuclear waste bill.

The Nevada delegation is most concerned about a provision in the bill that would allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not the EPA, to set safe regulation levels inside Yucca Mountain.

Clinton has not taken a position on the bill, although he threatened to veto a previous version of the bill that would have brought a temporary nuclear waste dump to Nevada.

So the Nevada delegation in Congress -- Reid, Sen. Richard Bryan, Rep. Shelley Berkley and Rep. Jim Gibbons -- are awaiting word from Clinton about his stance, said spokespeople in their offices today.

Reid has said Vice President Al Gore may announce Clinton's stance when Gore visits Las Vegas during a campaign swing Oct. 11.

"We have no reason to believe we still don't have a veto promise (from Clinton)," Bryan spokesman David Lemmon said today.

Berkley and Gibbons sent separate letters to Clinton this month, pointing out flaws with the nuclear waste bill.

"I urge you to reaffirm your veto promise," Gibbons wrote.