Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

DOE, Congress still locked in fight on naming nuke waste

Suzanne Struglinski

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department will continue to push Congress for authority to reclassify radioactive waste despite a move made by lawmakers last week to prevent that.

Department spokesman Joe Davis said the agency is still speaking to members of Congress about the issue but could offer no details on which member might take up the cause or to which bill the proposal could be attached.

DOE wants the authority to determine if high-level nuclear waste in storage tanks at three former nuclear weapons sites is really low-level waste. If so, the plan would be to leave it on site instead of moving it to Yucca Mountain, the potential federal nuclear waste storage site about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Davis said the department had this authority for years as it worked with the state to negotiate clean-up plans, but a July court ruling that said it did not have such power under federal nuclear waste law has put a "massive roadblock" in the clean up plans. Last week a motion was made to prevent the proposal from being added to the pending energy bill. The bill is in a conference committee, which will determine the final version.

Nevadans object to the proposal, saying DOE should not be allowed to change its rules again, and state officials are fearful of the precedent the law could set for future nuclear waste issues.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev, said on the House floor last week that should DOE's proposal go through it would not stop more waste from coming to Yucca Mountain since enough waste will exist to fill the mountain if it opens.

But Davis disagrees, saying it most definitely is "a more or less argument" on waste going to Yucca Mountain. If the court ruling stands, more waste would need to come out of the tanks than DOE originally intended to be sent to the storage facility.

He acknowledged the 77,000 ton legal limit for the site, but said Congress also has to decided to build another facility or expand that limit if needed.

Berkley spokesman David Cherry said the department is "splitting hairs" and that DOE is trying to use the Yucca argument as a scare tactic. He said Nevada objects to any waste coming to the site and talking about limiting additional waste would mean the battle has already been lost.

"There is already the threat of Yucca Mountain, you can't really make it any worse." Cherry said.

Even Gov. Kenny Guinn said in a letter sent to Berkley last week that the change would not affect Yucca.

Last week the House accepted a motion instructing energy bill negotiators to not accept the department's request for the authority, based on the impact it could have on Idaho, Washington and South Carolina, where those plants are located, and possibly other states. However, the motion is not binding, so DOE can still push for the change.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, an energy bill conferee, said he "had no intention" of putting the department's language into the final bill and it was "unlikely" to be included, unless there was discussion with the affected states

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