Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.
WASHINGTON --Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told a congressional panel today that his department could begin shipping nuclear waste to Nevada by 2010 if Congress approves the Yucca Mountain repository based on "overwhelming scientific evidence."
Testifying to a House subcommittee this morning, Abraham stressed that scientific research has proven that the site is suitable, and he urged the lawmakers to approve the plan and allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make the final decision.
"In my view, there's overwhelming scientific support for this project," he said, noting that he expected a licensing application by the end of 2004. "We have done more than sufficient research to move to the next step."
In Congress' first debate on Yucca, supporters received a favorable response from the House's Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.
The hearing started with 10 of 11 members with opening statements speaking in favor of Yucca. Chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, has been a vocal supporter of the dump.
"I have been surprised by continual delays not related to site characterization, but I have been pleased with what I have heard from the scientists," Barton said. "We need a place where spent nuclear fuel can go and be safe for 10,000 years. It should not remain forever in more than 100 facilities throughout the nation."
The hearing marked the opening of what could be a final congressional debate on the controversial 15-year-old project. Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the issue by the end of July.
At issue is a resolution that endoreses the site, introduced last week after Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed President Bush's approval of the site. If lawmakers approve it, they will have effectively overridden Guinn's veto.
Barton hopes the full House will vote by early May.
Congress has to act on the issue in the next three months under law, and the House was expected to pass it quickly onto the Senate, where Nevada leaders feel they have the best chance at stopping the issue.
Barton has said he wants the issue to move through Congress quickly and wanted his subcommittee to pass the resolution by Tuesday and move the issue to the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
Yucca supporters quickly tried to puncture Nevada arguments on the transportation of nuclear waste and stressed the issue of terrorism, saying it was better to have the nation's high-level nuclear waste buried in one spot rather than spread around the country.
Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Ohio, who jokes about being named after a Mark Twain character, invoked Twain to make his argument.
"He suggested that you are well served to put all your eggs in one basket -- and then watch that basket."
He also addressed the controversial issue of the number of shipments it would take to haul 77,000 tons of radioactive waste to Nevada. State officials have said it could mean 100,000 truck shipments or up to 3,000 a year, but Abraham asserted that it would be "less than one shipment per day."
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., challenged Abraham on the shipments' safety.
"I totally disagree with you," Markey said. "I think these mobile Chernobyls are not safe on the roadways and railways of America."
Abraham was questioned by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a dump supporter, on what would happen if Yucca Mountain is not approved. Abraham said the federal law does not have a provision as to what would come next, and he said nuclear plants would begin seeking their own solutions such as a private repository on Indian land in Utah.
"What you're telling us," Dingell said, "is you're going to have a helluva mess on your hands and the country will."
About the only subcommittee member to challenge the issue was Markey, a longtime nuclear foe, who raised questions on the 293 unanswered issues about Yucca Mountain raised by the NRC. Abraham said those would be answered during the licensing process.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., led the charge against Yucca.
"I must tell you, Yucca Mountain is not, nor will it ever be, geologically sound," said Gibbons, who holds a master's degree in geology. "Nobody in this room can predict what the next 10,000 years will bring at Yucca Mountain -- no matter whether we are discussing seismic activity, volcanic activity, meteorological activity or otherwise."
Ensign urged the committee to consider alternatives such as recycling and characterized Yucca Mountain as an "expensive mistake."
"For those who claim to be fiscal conservatives, you really have to take a look at this from a cost standpoint," Ensign said.
He said it was understood that the House would approve Yucca, but warned of the Senate battle to come.
"We've got some parliamentary tricks up our sleeves that you will see that we will pull," he told the subcommittee.
The hearing was continuing throughout the day with a people representing the nuclear industry, the environmental movement and a number of regulators and experts scheduled to testify.
In other news, Guinn, Ensign and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., each plan to donate $1,000 each to the anti-Yucca campaign fund, they announced Tuesday with little fanfare. The coordinated announcement came after several Nevada reporters asked the politicians if they had given money after making pleas for donations to the public.
The money is being used to finance lawsuits challenging Yucca and fund anti-Yucca public relations campaigns, including television commercials to be run in various states.
"They just felt it was the appropriate thing to do, to set an example," Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said. "He just felt like he would do the right thing and put his money where his mouth is."
Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said, "They would not have asked their neighbors to contribute if they were not willing to contribute themselves. We're all in this together."
Reid planned to give money from his personal credit card, Naylor said.
Berkley had already donated money -- $200 -- to the fund. She quietly made a donation last week, spokesman Michael O'Donovan said. Gibbons intends to give an undisclosed amount of money, spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.
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