Editorial: Welcome to our world

Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:11 a.m.

Just before attending an Oval Office ceremony in July 2002, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said, "I am very proud of the Secretary of Energy ..." At the ceremony, President Bush signed the Yucca Mountain resolution, giving his approval to the Energy Department's plan to turn Nevada's Yucca Mountain into the nation's sole dumping ground for high-level nuclear waste.

Today, Craig isn't so complimentary. "I will not allow (the Energy Department) to hold this work hostage ..." he thundered at a hearing on a nuclear waste issue in his own state.

Craig is now experiencing a taste of what Nevada has been experiencing for years -- the department's habit of changing rules late in the game. For example, Congress first decreed that Yucca could only be used if the mountain's natural geology would be the main barrier against radiation. Later, the Energy Department decided the main barrier could include man-made casks and other engineering.

In Idaho, and five other states, Congress said all nuclear waste left over from Cold War weapons production is high level and must be removed. Now the Energy Department is threatening to withhold $350 million in cleanup funds unless the states agree to a reclassification of some of the waste as low level, and agree to bury it within their own borders. Craig is furious.

Welcome to our world, Sen. Craig.