Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
February 11, 2000, Friday 2 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 2
LENGTH:
455 words
HEADLINE: Nuclear waste bill faces short
half-life despite Senate OK
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
News Services
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Thursday to
require that nuclear waste be shipped from power plants around the country to a
site in Nevada as early as 2007 once a permanent burial site in Nevada is
licensed.
But the measure, which has yet to be considered by the House,
faces a certain veto by President Clinton and even the bill's chief sponsor said
he doubts a veto can be overcome.
The Senate passed the bill 64-34,
short of the 67 votes needed to override a veto if all senators vote. Only two
Republicans - Sens. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and Lincoln Chafee of
Rhode Island - voted against the measure. "This bill is dead until we get a new
administration," said a disappointed Sen. Frank Murkowski,R-Alaska, who
repeatedly has sought to enact nuclear waste legislation. He said he doubted any
of the senators would switch their votes.
Congress has struggled for six
years over what to do with the more than 40,000 tons of highly radioactive used
reactor fuel that now sits at commercial power plants in 31 states.
Proponents of the bill said the issue has been debated too long and that
the highly radioactive waste would be safer kept at a central location instead
of at sites across the country. The government long ago promised the nuclear
industry it would deal with the waste problem, they said.
But the White
House and other opponents have argued that directing the wastes to be shipped to
Nevada could undermine efforts to develop a permanent burial site there. They
also maintained the legislation would hinder the Environmental Protection Agency
from developing radiation exposure limits for any such future permanent
repository.
The permanent facility being proposed for Yucca
Mountain 90 miles from Las Vegas is still under scientific review, but
is scheduled to be opened in 2010 if it is found technically suitable and gets a
license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"Nobody wants the waste
(but) . . . if you throw it up into the air, it's got to come down somewhere,"
said Murkowski, chief sponsor of the legislation. He said the government has an
obligation to deal with the waste problem and has reneged on contracts with the
utility companies to take the waste.
But Murkowski abandoned a provision
that would have required the Energy Department to assume title of the waste at
the power plants. At least a half-dozen governors had raised concern about the
title transfer, fearing it would lead to the waste staying at the power plants
for decades, perhaps permanently.
"Our main objection (to the bill) is
the diminution of authority for the Environmental Protection Agency" in setting
radiation standards, said Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
LOAD-DATE:
February 12, 2000 
