Yucca Mountain Johnny wears safety glasses as part of his updated appearance, right, on the project Web site.

WASHINGTON -- Maybe it was the makeover that left him newly buff, but Yucca Mountain Johnny on Wednesday survived an attempt to put him out of business.

Johnny is a cartoon miner, the mascot for the youth pages of the Web site for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

He had raised the ire of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and anti-Yucca activists who derided him as a pro-nuclear tool aimed at children.

When the House debated its annual energy spending bill Wednesday, Berkley proposed an amendment to take Johnny down. It would have cut off funding for the youth section of the Web site.

"This character was created with taxpayer money to convince elementary school children that nuclear waste is a good thing," Berkley said.

"We should not be using our children as propaganda tools. This is not Communist Russia, the last time I looked."

Berkley's amendment failed, 271-147, after senior lawmakers spoke in defense of DOE's education efforts.

"To my knowledge, nobody is questioning the accuracy and truth of what's on the Web site," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

"The people have spoken. Johnny wins," DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said after the vote, calling the amendment "pure silliness."

"Yucca Mountain Johnny may live to fight another day, but he has been exposed to the world for the phony that he is," Berkley responded.

"More than 140 of my colleagues agreed that taxpayer funds should not be used for such blatant pro-Yucca propaganda aimed at America's youth."

The Yucca Mountain "youth zone" within www.ymp.gov talks about the Nevada site and the repository project in simplified language, linking users to more details deeper within DOE Web pages. It also contains quizzes and games.

But Berkley said the site is silent on safety risks of transporting nuclear waste and shortcomings in the Yucca project that have caused it to fall years behind schedule.

Recent visitors to the Web site have found a new Yucca Mountain Johnny. DOE officials said he was modernized in a redesign last month.

The new Johnny sports safety goggles, a safety vest and a tool belt. He also appears more muscular.

"He looks more like a miner," DOE spokesman Allen Benson said. "It is not subliminal; those are safety glasses and a safety belt. The message is safety."

As for his buffness, "he may have been updated a little bit," Benson said.

During debate, Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, said perhaps Johnny was "cutesy" and could be reworked. But he urged that DOE's education efforts not be abandoned.

"The best thing against fear is knowledge," Hobson said. "If we could have a more balanced approach, I think Yucca Mountain Johnny may have a place in teaching kids."

Debate came as the House moved toward passage of a $30 billion spending bill for the Energy Department, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation for 2007.

The bill contains $544.5 million to continue development of Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste. It also contains $120 million for the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a waste reprocessing initiative.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., proposed to cut $40 million from the GNEP budget. His amendment was defeated, 295-128.