As Senate prepares for debate, nuke waste bill still changing

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate sponsor of a nuclear waste bill that would bring tons of nuclear waste to Nevada as early as 2007 primed the Senate today for debate on the bill.

The debate was expected later today, with a possible vote on the bill to follow Wednesday.

"We have got to put the waste somewhere," Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said during a speech on the Senate floor. "We've identified (Nevada) as the appropriate place."

Nevada Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, both D-Nev., said they were ready to fight the bill. They were cheered by President Clinton who today re-affirmed his promise to veto the bill if it passes the Senate, and later this year, the House.

"It's still a bad piece of legislation and hopefully we'll have enough votes to sustain the president's veto," Bryan said.

The Nevada senators also are encouraged by support from a key player in the debate: Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee chaired by Murkowski. Bingaman on the Senate floor today said the current bill was still "fatally flawed."

But Bingaman added that yet another revised version of the bill that he and Murkowski have been working on -- one that strikes major compromises -- could be unveiled later today.

The bill establishes rules for shipping 77,000 tons of waste from nuclear power plants across the nation to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Murkowski today said Nevada, which has been rocked by nuclear bomb tests over the years, was the best place to store the waste, adding, "I'm sensitive to the fact that this is soil in the state of Nevada."

"You're going to hear a lot from my Nevada colleagues, as you should," Murkowski said. "The difficulty with this issue is that nobody wants the waste. Let's be honest with one another. They have a vested interest. They don't want it in their state."

A key provision in the bill that has proved controversial involves which agency would set radiation standards for the waste buried at Yucca Mountain.

The Nevada senators expect lengthy debate on how much authority the Environmental Protection Agency should have in setting the radiation standards. Reid and Bryan believe the EPA should have the sole authority to set the standards.

Murkowski is wary of the EPA standards because the standards could be so strict that they could disqualify Yucca Mountain as a site to bury waste. Reid and Bryan are counting on that.

"We want a radiation standard that is attainable," Murkowski said. "If we have a standard that is unattainable, this whole thing is for naught."

Murkowski said it would be "unacceptable" to throw out the whole bill because of disagreement over the radiation standards provision.

Murkowski said nuclear power plants, which produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity, could not continue to store their own waste. Plants face closure because storing waste is so expensive, Murkowski said.

"Where is the power going to come from?" Murkowski asked. "Do you want to be responsible for a brown out in Illinois? To let this nuclear industry choke on its own waste is irresponsible."