Thursday, January 20, 2005
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NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY: Bodman vows to press Yucca dump

Energy secretary nominee supports initiatives to expand nuclear programs

Samuel Bodman appears before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday on Capitol Hill. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Energy secretary nominee Samuel Bodman said Wednesday he will "enthusiastically follow through" to continue developing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Speaking at a confirmation hearing before the Senate energy committee, Bodman said he supported Bush administration initiatives to expand nuclear energy, like the Nuclear Power 2010 program to begin building new reactors by the end of the decade.

"But before that can happen, we have to make real progress at Yucca," where spent fuel from existing plants would be buried, Bodman said. "We have to overcome the legal and regulatory issues. I am committed to that."

"I view one of my responsibilities is to execute the will of Congress and the president to see to it we follow through with Yucca Mountain," Bodman said.

President Bush signed legislation in July 2002 designating the Nevada site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas for a repository to hold 77,000 tons of spent fuel and government nuclear waste.

Bodman received a warm reception from members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during a two-hour confirmation hearing where he was questioned generally on issues including electricity regulation, nuclear nonproliferation and oil drilling in the Arctic.

Bodman has been confirmed by the Senate to two other high-ranking posts in the Bush administration. Energy committee leaders said they expected he will win confirmation to the DOE position as well. He is deputy secretary at the Treasury Department, the No. 2 agency job.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday he did not know Bodman well and did not know yet how he will vote. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., plans to vote for the nominee, spokesman Jack Finn said.

Bodman said he had not yet reviewed the Energy Department's upcoming 2006 budget or even entered the DOE office building, but he pledged to work with senators on their matters of concern.

On renewable energy, he told Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., he was "quite enthused" about prospects for wind energy production, particularly if generators could be built near population areas to keep transmission costs low.

Bodman also promised Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to hear out her opposition to development of low-yield nuclear weapons and "bunker buster" nuclear bombs.

Bodman, 66, is a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a corporate leader who built Boston-based Fidelity Investments into a major financial services firm. Before entering the government in 2001, he was chief executive of Cabot Corp., a specialty chemical firm with manufacturing plants in 25 countries.