House Bill Introduced To Defeat Nev Nuke Waste Site Veto

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

House Bill Introduced To Defeat Nev Nuke Waste Site Veto 

Fri Apr 12, 8:15 AM ET 



WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, introduced 

legislation Thursday to override the state of Nevada 's veto of a 

proposed nuclear waste disposal facility 90 miles from Las Vegas .



Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate earlier this week.



The companion bills set the stage for what promises to be a high-

stakes battle over the Bush administration's plans to develop a deep-

geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., to store highly 

radioactive waste for thousands of years.



More than 40,000 metric tons of spent-fuel waste currently stored at 

more than 100 nuclear power reactor sites across the country is 

destined for Yucca Mountain if the twin bills pass both the House and 

Senate within the next three months.



A nearly equal amount of high-level nuclear waste generated by the 

nation's nuclear weapons program also is slated for storage there.



Nevada lawmakers are staunchly opposed to the project and have 

promised to wage a stiff campaign to defeat the project. Together 

with an advertising campaign funded by the gambling industry, Yucca 

Mountain opponents hope to defeat the measure by highlighting the 

myriad transportation routes for the thousands of nuclear-waste 

shipments needed to concentrate the material in Nevada .



They also hope fears of a nuclear-waste accident occurring in 

lawmakers' states will provide the votes needed to reject the 

repository.



The nuclear industry and other industry interests also are expected 

to spend heavily in support of the project. The nuclear industry 

cites a long track record of safe transportation of nuclear waste.



Overriding the state's statutory veto of the project will require 

simple majorities in both the House and Senate.



The House is expected to approve Yucca Mountain by a comfortable 

margin. The Senate vote is seen as much closer, but Senate Majority 

Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., has suggested in recent weeks that he 

may not have the votes to stop the project, as he vowed last year.



Daschle typically controls what bills are allowed on the Senate floor 

for a vote. But the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which established the 

state veto and congressional override process, gives any senator the 

right to bypass the majority leader and bring the Yucca Mountain 

issue up for a vote.



Daschle said recently that his highly publicized pledge to block the 

Yucca Mountain project was based on the mistaken assumption 

that he could prevent the measure from coming up for a vote.



Barton, chairman of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee, 

has scheduled a hearing on the Yucca Mountain issue for April 25 .



Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he plans to hold Senate Energy 

Committee hearings on the matter once the Senate finishes debating 

the energy bill. Senate leaders said Thursday they expected to finish 

the energy bill next week.





-------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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