Officials predict fight over storage of nuclear waste

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation and its governor predicted Tuesday an uphill fight in Congress to keep thousands of tons of nuclear waste from being shipped into their state.

"The deck is stacked against us. We're going to try to restack the deck," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who knows something about card games as a former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.

While the Nevadans are facing a long-shot chance of succeeding, they outlined their essential strategy at a news conference: Convince enough lawmakers that it's too risky to allow thousands of shipments of nuclear waste to travel by highway and rail across their states.

A majority of nuclear reactors are located in the eastern half of the country.

Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, formally rejected construction of the Yucca facility in papers filed with Congress on Monday, leaving the next step to the House and Senate. President Bush in February directed that the Nevada site be built, but under the law Nevada has a right to veto that decision. Congress, in turn, can override Nevada's objection.

On the fast track

The procedures outlined by the law assure that Congress move as quickly as possible to consider a resolution upholding the president's decision.

Unlike normal legislation, no senator may filibuster the resolution and any senator may bring it to the Senate floor for consideration after 60 days. Congress has 90 legislative days to act, or the Yucca site will be abandoned.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the resolution Tuesday, saying the law compelled the committee chairman to do so. Bingaman, who has voted against the Yucca project in the past, promised to "hold hearings that will fairly and thoughtfully examine all sides of this important issue."

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told Reid he would "try and ensure" that no Democratic senator acts to bring the resolution up for floor consideration. While Daschle normally would control when a measure is taken up by the Senate, in this case any Republican senator may force Senate action after a 60-day waiting period. Approval is by majority.

"We have an uphill fight to pick up 49 more votes," said Reid.

Safety promised

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and other supporters argue that the waste can be stored safely at the Nevada site, which eventually would contain 77,000 tons of waste that will remain radioactive for more than 10,000 years. If Congress gives the go-ahead, the Energy Department must still receive a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and also faces a court challenge.

"Our court case will be very strong," said Guinn.

Nevada's lawsuit charges that the Energy Department was obligated to find a disposal site where the geology will keep the waste from escaping into the environment for thousands of years. The lawsuit alleges the Yucca site does not meet that standard, requiring manmade barriers whose future performance is uncertain.

For the time being, however, the Nevadans hope to convince enough members of Congress to question the transportation of thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste from civilian power reactors and federal facilities in 34 states.

"It isn't a question of if there will be an accident, it's a question of when and where," maintained Reid.

He said there will be more than 120,000 shipments over 24 years by both rail and highway.

The Energy Department has yet to develop a detailed transportation plan showing routes, but administration officials and the nuclear industry maintain that the shipments can be conducted safely and securely.

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On the Net:

Yucca Mountain Project: http://www.ymp.gov

Nuclear Energy Institute: http://www.nei.org

Nuclear Information and Research Service: http://www.nirs.org