Copyright 1999 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
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August 8, 1999, Sunday, TWO STAR EDITION
SECTION: STATE, Pg. C-9, POLITICAL WATCH
LENGTH: 1073 words
BYLINE:
JAMES O' TOOLE
BODY:
Itkin tabbed to be
nuclear waste czar
Former Rep. Ivan Itkin, the one-time nuclear
scientist who capped a long political career with an ill-fated run for governor,
has found a job combining the interests of his old ones.
Last week,
President Clinton nominated the Point Breeze Democrat to the Department of
Energy post of director of civilian radioactive waste management. The position
requires Senate confirmation, so Itkin will not actually start his duties for
several weeks or months.
"I think I was selected because I have two good
attributes in regard to this position," Itkin said. "I have a certain
familiarity, a technical competence in this field, and in addition, I have the
political and governmental experience that this position also needs." Both the
technical and the political challenges Itkin would be addressing are
significant. The chief issue for the department in this area is the
determination of where and how the nation will dispose of its high-level nuclear
waste - the byproducts of power plants and nuclear weapons facilities.
Currently, this highly radioactive waste is stored on the site where it is
generated, a situation considered untenable for the long run.
The
Department of Energy has identified Yucca Mountain in Nevada as
a potential home for a permanent disposal site. The site is on federal land near
a test site for nuclear weapons, but many Nevadans are understandably less than
thrilled at the prospect of it as a home for the permanent storage facility.
Assuming that he is confirmed, Itkin's office would be in Washington,
although he said he would continue to maintain his home in Pittsburgh.
"But I probably also will be spending a lot of time in Nevada as we
continue to come to grips with the question of whether this is the appropriate
site and [whether] we have the appropriate design," he said.
"I'm
looking forward to it," he added. "There's a tremendous amount of technology
that needs to be addressed. But also, having been a state legislative leader, I
understand the [not-in-my-back-yard] feeling. I understand how state legislators
and governors respond."
Last year, Itkin was the unsuccessful Democratic
nominee in a decidedly uphill battle against Gov. Ridge. The statewide bid came
after a career in the Legislature that began in 1972, during which he rose to
the post of majority leader the last time the Democratic Party held a House
majority. Itkin is married to Joyce Lee Itkin, Allegheny County's clerk of
courts.
"Nuclear safety isn't just some theoretical issue with me,"
Itkin said. "Joyce was pregnant with our son, Max, and working in Middletown
[Dauphin County] when Three Mile Island hit. So I know the concerns at a
personal level. I know that nuclear safety is about real people."
No
date has been set for Itkin's confirmation hearing, but he said he hoped to see
Senate action on his nomination sometime in September or October. A spokesman
for the Department of Energy said the annual salary for the position would be
between $ 118,000 and $ 125,000.
Regatta political capital
This
is regatta weekend, a four-day extravaganza that, for county executive candidate
Jim Roddey is the equivalent of a high-profile homicide investigation for his
opponent, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht - a chance to reap political dividends from his
prominence and expertise in an apolitical context.
Roddey, who embarked
on a rescue mission for the regatta when it foundered amid financial troubles
and controversy two years ago, stood in the spotlight in the opening banquet
Tuesday when he presented a ceremonial check to Mayor Murphy as payment of part
of the Three Rivers Regatta's debt to the city. Kent Gates, the Republican's
campaign manager, said his candidate didn't plan to do anything overtly
political to exploit the event, but, he noted approvingly, the publicity
couldn't hurt.
"Jim's not planning anything special. He'll probably be
down there Saturday and Sunday, working the crowd," Gates said.
Murphy
accepted the check from Roddey Tuesday, but on Thursday morning, he was helping
to attract checks for Wecht.
Murphy and Wecht were on the opposite sides
during the primary. Murphy backed Commissioner Mike Dawida, the Democratic
also-ran, and Wecht frequently criticized Murphy for his support of Republican
candidates during the 1998 statewide elections. But the apparent post-primary
rapprochement between the two leading Democrats continues.
In a recent
joint news conference, Murphy praised Wecht strenuously.
And on
Thursday, in the Westin William Penn, Murphy hosted a $ 500-a-plate fund-raising
breakfast for the Wecht campaign.
Dianna Wentz, a spokeswoman for the
Wecht campaign, did not have an exact tally for how much the event had raised,
but she said its goal was $ 75,000, and that the campaign expected to meet or
exceed that goal by the time all the pledges come in.
Wecht, Roddey
reunite
If you define the term very loosely, the first debate of the
county executive race took place this week.
The occasion was Thursday
night's anniversary party for "NightTalk," the PCNC show hosted by John
McIntire.
The show's set was transformed into a party for past guests of
the show - a collection of the Pittsburgh celebrities, politicians, big shots,
wannabes, has-beens and never-weres that have graced the nightly talk fest.
Among those on the crowded set were Wecht and Roddey, two figures who
were frequent guests on the show even before their current incarnations as
combatants in the executive race.
Goaded by Roddey, who's been an
advocate of frequent debates during the election, McIntire engineered an
apparently friendly confrontation between the nominees.
Roddey, the
major domo of the weekend's regatta, joked that he had been telling people all
day that if Wecht were elected, the Democrat would cancel the regatta.
On the contrary, Wecht responded, he was ready to go on record with the
pledge that in a Wecht administration, everyone will have his own personal
motorboat for the regatta.
Earlier in the show, McIntire had tried to
orchestrate another confrontation with Wecht. During a videotaped visit to
wrestling icon Bruno Sammartino, who was hospitalized with diverticulitis, the
host suggested that when Sammartino leaves the hospital, he could demonstrate
his recovery by wrestling Wecht.
But Sammartino demurred.
"He's
a doctor, he knows all the pressure points.
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