Monday, October 06, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Effort aims to steer money toward dump

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of the Yucca Mountain Project have launched a new effort to allow federal dollars to flow more easily to the nuclear waste repository program.

While details have not been disclosed, state and industry groups are promoting a new bill that would allow lawmakers to appropriate hundreds of millions of dollars each year from a special nuclear waste fund without running afoul of congressional budget restrictions.

Executives from the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, a group of utilities and state agencies, said they are showing House lawmakers the budget plan and expect it will be introduced as legislation later this year.

The effort has drawn fresh criticism from Nevada lawmakers, who oppose the Yucca project.

"There is no crisis forcing us to throw money at Yucca Mountain," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.

But project supporters said that unless purse strings are loosened on the nuclear waste fund, the Energy Department will fail to meet a 2010 goal to begin burying nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"The government's nuclear waste management program is at a critical juncture," said Terry Freese, Nuclear Energy Institute director of legislative programs.

Rules that Congress has set for itself to restrain spending have helped suppress progress on the repository at a time when the Energy Department is eyeing more than $1.3 billion in annual need for the program, industry officials said.

Budget cuts forced annually by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also have contributed to shortfalls.

The Nuclear Energy Institute represents power plant operators whose spent fuel would be transported to Yucca Mountain. The Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition includes utilities and state regulators who pay particular attention to the fund that feeds the project.

State officials say the nuclear waste fund, built by utility customer fees, should ensure the Yucca Mountain Project is largely self-financed, but Congress fails to maximize spending each year. The current fund balance is $14.6 billion, according to a DOE report.

Similar efforts to alter budget rules for Yucca Mountain have been resisted in the past by members of Congress who oppose making structural changes to benefit specific programs.

Reid said Wednesday nothing has changed. "I'm still opposed to it, and Senator Domenici is still opposed to it," Reid said.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is chairman of two panels with jurisdiction over the Yucca program. He also is a former chairman of the Senate Budget Committee who remains influential on budget matters.

Pro-Yucca lobbying last week renewed a focus on Yucca Mountain 14 months before DOE hopes to present the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with a repository license application.

House and Senate negotiators are preparing to discuss Energy Department spending levels for fiscal 2004, which began on Wednesday.

Entering negotiations, the House has approved Yucca funding of $765 million while the Senate has approved $425 million.

The Bush administration requested $591 million for the Yucca program and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has said DOE needs the entire amount to meet its timeline.

State officials are lobbying for the full funding approved by the House, said LeRoy Koppendrayer, a Minnesota public service commissioner.

"We're doing everything we can to hold everyone's feet to the fire," Koppendrayer said.