Bill advances to change way Yucca funds can be obtained

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, June 24, 2004 | 10:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill today that would allow Congress to get $750 million for the Yucca Mountain project directly from a pool of money funded by a surcharge on nuclear power for the next five years.

The bill changes the usual federal budget rules that would keep the project under a limit put on the Energy and Water Development spending bill. Through the bill the project would be considered separately.

Critics of the project say the bill limits congressional oversight and makes it too easy to funnel money into a dangerous project.

"This is an inappropriate way to fund federal projects, especially a project that is clearly mismanaged, facing pending legal challenges, and ignoring unresolved safety issues," according to a letter signed by seven groups, including Judy Treichel of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force. "The problems with the Yucca Mountain Project are deeper than funding and cannot be solved by throwing more ratepayer money at the DOE (the Energy Department)."

But the nuclear industry wants Congress to be able to tap into $15 billion in the pool earmarked for the project. Nuclear ratepayers pay a fee into the fund but the money goes unused when Congress cuts the budget.