Editorial: Hearing in House all for show

Friday, April 19, 2002 | 5:04 a.m.

On Thursday the first congressional hearing was held on President Bush's plan to build a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Members of Nevada's congressional delegation, testifying before the House energy subcommittee, laid out the reasons why it would be a disaster to go forward with Yucca Mountain. They aptly noted that not only would a nuclear waste dump endanger public safety, but the project will continue to be a financial boondoggle, costing billions of more dollars than originally estimated. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is on the 31-member committee, made a salient point about terrorist threats posed to transportation, referring to Sept. 11 when he said that it's "a short distance from box cutters to box cars." But those were the high points of the hearing, which overall wasn't a genuine effort to learn the facts about the dangers associated with nucle ar waste. Most members had their minds made up and already were on the Yucca Mountain bandwagon.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who doesn't like to be bothered by nagging questions about nuclear waste's storage and transportation, told committee members that Congress should quickly approve a dump at Yucca Mountain. Abraham indicated that members of Congress shouldn't worry too much about their decision because the experts at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would have to grant the project a license before it is built, still would have the final say. "We're confident enough to go to the next stage," Abraham said. "Those who oppose (Yucca) wouldn't even test it." Of course, the reason why Abraham and the nuclear power industry want Yucca Mountain in the hands of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is because that agency for years has acted more as a cheerleader instead of a regulator for the industry. No wonder he is so confident about passing the buck.

It also wasn't comforting that after Abraham spoke, the committee room virtually emptied out. Only the chairman, Joe Barton, R-Texas, and the vice chairman, John Shimkus, R-Ill., were left. That meant the other 29 committee members didn't bother to take advantage of the opportunity to listen to criticism of Yucca Mountain that has been voiced by independent sources with no ties to Nevada. They didn't hear Gary Jones of the General Accounting Office, Congress' own investigative arm, tell them that the Energy Department wasn't prepared to submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because the scientific studies haven't been completed yet. The committee members also didn't bother to hear Jared Cohon, the chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, explain that the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain performance estimates were "weak to moderate" because of technical issues that haven't been resolved.

If this is the way the House intends to assess the transportation and storage of 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste -- man's deadliest substance -- then it's hardly reassuring to think how little time House members spend on matters with less gravity. Thousands of shipments of nuclear waste will pass near some of the towns and cities in their districts, but the nuclear power industry's influence -- and contributions -- outweigh any concerns they may have. Another reason why hope is all but lost in the House is because of Speaker Dennis Hastert. Illinois, which is where Hastert is from, just happens to be the state with the most nuclear power reactors. So Hastert has made it a top priority for the GOP leadership that Yucca Mountain get built. A House transportation committee will hold a hearing on the shipping of nuclear waste, but it appears certain at this point that the House will approve Yucca Mountain. That means Nevada's fate will rest in the hands of the Senate, whic! h likes to refer to itself as the world's greatest deliberative body. We can only hope that the Senate does a better job than the House's dismal performance last week.