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For Immediate Release: February 8, 2000

Contact: Amy Shollenberger (202-454-5118)

Mark Matthias (202-454-5191)

 

 Cloture Vote on Nuclear Waste Bill Passes

Majority of Senators choose nuclear industry over constituents

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Senate voted today on whether to take up the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (s.1287), which was forced to the Senate floor by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi). Lott and Murkowski together received over $75,000 from the nuclear industry in PAC contributions in 1999 alone.

This bill is yet another bailout of the nuclear industry. It opens a path to lower health and environmental standards for a nuclear waste repository and relieves the industry of its responsibility to pay for its own waste. "This vote makes it clear that the majority of our congressional delegates just do not care about the health and safety of United States citizens. Instead, they are focused on appeasing an industry that contributes heavily to their campaign accounts," Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy Project explained.

The President vowed to veto this legislation on October 1, 1999, because it weakens critical environmental and public health standards. He reiterated his veto promise last week and again today, noting in a Statement of Administration Policy that the bill "will allow another entity to block the EPA’s authority until June 1, 2001" to set radiation release standards for a repository at Yucca Mountain. The Statement goes on to say that "The bill also contains unrealistic and unworkable milestones; insufficient funding mechanisms to pay for both the Yucca Mountain scientific program and the "take title" provisions; and burdensome and unworkable transportation provisions that do not provide a commensurate improvement in safety."

Yucca Mountain is the only site being considered by the Department of Energy (DOE) as a "permanent disposal" site for the United States’ highly radioactive nuclear waste. This spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste is currently located at 77 sites across the country and would have to be transported by truck or rail to Yucca Mountain if that site is approved as a geologic repository. During the floor debate today, Senator Murkowski used an inaccurate map showing sites that are not even on the docket for moving their waste to Yucca Mountain in order to scare Senators into voting for this irresponsible legislation. The correct map, taken from the Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement, is attached.