Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Committee OKs Yucca site 41-6

WASHINGTON -- The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository cleared another hurdle today when the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the site on a 41-6 vote. The next step: a full House vote.

The proposed repository continued its march through the House with the overwhelming vote and several lawmakers spoke highly of the plan to ship 77,000 tons of high-level waste to Nevada.

Despite arguments that science hasn't proven that the repository can safely hold the waste, Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., said both man-made and geological barriers will isolate the waste.

"The physical attributes of Yucca Mountain sound very safe, but more importantly, the best available science also supports the development of Yucca Mountain," he said.

Tauzin said the future of nuclear power is tied to the repository.

"Whether you like nuclear energy or not, we can't do without it in this country," he said.

The vote today was on a simple resolution approving Yucca Mountain as the nation's waste repository. Both the House and Senate must approve it for the project to continue. The House has moved quickly to get the resolution to the floor, while the Senate is expected to take longer. Under law, Congress must decide within the next three months.

At a news conference with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, Tauzin said he expected the full House to vote the week after next.

Barton, chairman of a subcommittee that heard testimony on Yucca last week, predicted easy passage by the House.

"It will be a lot more than 218" votes, the number needed for a majority, Barton said.

Abraham, a former senator, said he's looking forward to the debate in Senate, where Nevada leaders have pledged a fight.

"We know there's going to be opposition," Abraham said, "but with the action the House has demonstrated there is broad bipartisan support. I believe ... the Senate will follow the House lead here."

Nevada leaders were disappointed by today's vote.

"It's disappointing any vote that is that lopsided," Gov. Kenny Guinn said. "But we knew where we stood in the House."

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the vote was what he expected, but dismissed the belief that the House vote will add momentum for the debate in the Senate.

"As I've said before, the Senate doesn't look that much at what the House does," Ensign said.

If Congress approves the resolution, the Energy Department, which manages Yucca, would seek to license the site as a permanent burial ground for the nation's nuclear waste. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission would have to approve the license, which would take several years.

During the Energy Committee hearing, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., an outspoken critic of the nuclear industry, argued that there are just too many unanswered scientific questions to make a decision now, referring to a government report criticizing the science behind the project.

The Energy Department has said that the nearly 300 questions raised by the General Accounting Office could be answered in the licensing process.

Markey, a committee member who led the opposition in a hearing last week, criticized the panel for rushing ahead with a political decision rather than waiting on a scientific decision.

"We are doing a disservice to the people of Nevada and to our institution itself," Markey said.

Waste would be shipped to Yucca Mountain starting in 2010 at the earliest.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., picked up on the argument Nevada leaders have made about the potential dangers of transporting nuclear waste across country.

Capps, a committee member who represents an area of the California coast that includes a nuclear power plant, said she is worried about barge shipments of nuclear waste steaming off the coast through the Santa Barbara Channel as part of the proposed transportation route.

"I don't think we should subject communities across the nation to the dangers this plan presents," Capps said.

But Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said that as much as 80 percent of the rail and 60 percent of the truck shipments could come through Nebraska, but he said he is not concerned.

"I am confident this will be accomplished without incident," he said.

Meanwhile today, the House Transportation Committee held a hearing on issues related to shipping nuclear waste to Yucca. The resolution had already moved to the House floor before that hearing began. The Transportation Committee has no direct role in passing the resolution, other than members will eventually vote as part of the full House.

Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, agreed to hold the hearing at the request of panel member Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Young's party ally Rep. Jim Gibbons of Nevada.

In a prepared statement, Ensign called the plan to ship waste to Yucca a "disastrous scheme." He invoked the image of recent rail accidents, including a Baltimore tunnel accident and subsequent freight train fire that burned for several days.

"Imagine a similar incident, only the waste is radioactive," Ensign said.

Guinn, who testified in front of the committee, said he was pleased to hear several members of the Transportation Committee express concern over transporting nuclear waste. The hearing may help Nevada make its main argument against Yucca Mountain. State leaders have tried to rally support by questioning the safety of transporting nuclear waste.

The hearing also served as a political forum for Nevada's congressional candidates, Republican Jon Porter and Democrat Dario Herrera.

As a favor, Young allowed Porter to testify; House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., leaned on panel leaders to include Herrera, who was hastily added on Wednesday.

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