House to vote on nuclear waste reclassification

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The House could vote today to urge lawmakers working on the pending energy bill not to include a new federal definition of "high level radioactive waste" sought by the Energy Department.

The agency wants to be able to reclassify some nuclear waste, which would allow it to leave some radioactive material at old weapons plants or ship it somewhere other than Yucca Mountain, the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas designated for the nation's high-level nuclear waste repository.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., is fighting that effort through a "motion to instruct conferees" to exclude the Energy Department proposal from the final bill. If approved, the motion does not legally obligate conferees to leave the language out of the energy bill, but "sends a strong signal" that the change is not welcome, Inslee press assistant Brian Peters said.

Reps. Jon Porter and Jim Gibbons, both R-Nev., were still evaluating the language this morning while an aide to Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she would support the effort.

"As the people of Nevada know all too well, whenever DOE runs into an obstacle, it tries to change the rules of the game," Berkley said. "DOE must learn to live within the law, and I will oppose any effort to allow them the authority to reclassify this nuclear waste."

Gov. Kenny Guinn sent a letter to Berkley, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., saying he supported Inslee's efforts.

Guinn wrote that more nuclear waste already exists than the 77,000 tons Yucca can legally hold, so the change would have little effect on the mountain. But he was concerned that the change would allow a greater amount of low-level waste to be sent to the Nevada Test Site.

"With this new authority it is impossible to predict what other harmful decision the Secretary could make that would result in Nevada shouldering an even greater burden," Guinn wrote.

Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis confirmed the department is trying to get the change into the energy bill conference report.

Since August the department has been trying to find a way for Congress to "clarify" federal nuclear waste laws after a July 2 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Idaho that said the department had no authority to deem some high-level nuclear waste in storage tanks at three former nuclear weapons sites as "incidental" and leave it on site as it had planned. The change would grant that authority.

Inslee said called Energy Department actions "disturbing."

"To do this in a dark room with three or four people in the bowels of the Capitol without any access by the minority party is undemocratic with a small 'D,' " Inslee said."This is the wrong way to do business."