DOE's Abraham urges Congress to back Yucca waste site
Date: 19-Apr-02
Country: USA
Author: Christopher Doering
"There is no alternative at that point" if Yucca Mountain is not overturned in Congress, Abraham told the House Energy subcommittee.
"Failure to do that leaves (the government) with the responsibility of the waste and no plan to address that responsibility," he said.
Republican Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn vetoed the project last week, leaving the U.S. Congress 90 working days to sustain or override him. The move marked the first time a U.S. governor has taken advantage of a 1982 federal law giving veto power over a U.S. nuclear waste disposal plan.
Nuclear power plants produce more than 20 percent of the country's energy, and many waste storage tanks are nearly full. The government has been slapped with several lawsuits for failing to meet a 1998 deadline to open a permanent nuclear waste storage site.
The proposed Yucca Mountain site, about 90 miles (145 km) northwest of Las Vegas, would permanently hold 70,000 tonnes of radioactive material generated by the nation's nuclear plants.
President George W. Bush endorsed the site in February, but environmental groups and state officials have argued that transporting the radioactive material cross-country could contaminate groundwater and endanger nearby residents.
The Republican controlled House is widely expected to overturn the veto with a simple majority, leaving opponents hoping for a 60-vote majority in the Senate, which is typically required for most major legislation.
"We've got some policy tricks up our sleeve that you will see," Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican opposed to the project, testified before the subcommittee. "We remain confident we will win."
HIGH BURDEN OF PROOF
The U.S. government has been laboring for more than two decades, spending some $4 billion to conduct tests to ensure safety issues surrounding transportation and storage of nuclear waste in a central location.
Abraham continued to rebuff criticism that the Yucca Mountain project has failed to address these and other safety issues such as terrorist attacks.
"Nothing that has been advanced in terms of criticism of the project comes close to meeting what I would think would be a high burden of proof...to abandon the project," he said.
Abraham told the subcommittee he was confident the project is backed by "sufficient science" and would be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission "in the later part of 2004."
If the independent NRC approves the Yucca Mountain plan, the facility could be opened by 2010. Officials estimate that on average, fewer than one shipment of radioactive waste would be transported each day.
Many states, nuclear power plants, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other supporters have hired lobbyists to promote their case on Capitol Hill. For their part, opponents on Tuesday embarked on a massive media blitz to campaign against the plan.