Bill puts Yucca on fast track

WASHINGTON -- A bill revived in Congress on Wednesday envisions nuclear waste being shipped to Yucca Mountain in 2010, almost a decade sooner than the government plans.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said he reintroduced legislation that would put the Department of Energy on a faster path to develop a Nevada repository for used nuclear fuel from commercial power plants.

The bill drew immediate condemnation from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and others in the Nevada delegation to Congress who charge Yucca Mountain is unsafe.

Reid, who is Senate majority leader, has said he would block repository bills from advancing through the Senate.

Domenici in a statement acknowledged his bill "faces long odds given the current makeup of the Senate."

"Nevertheless, Yucca Mountain remains an essential option to deal with nuclear waste," Domenici said. "This legislation will establish a comprehensive program that will provide confidence that our nation's nuclear waste will be managed safely both for current and future reactors."

The bill, introduced with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and nine other Republican senators, would authorize the Energy Department to build concrete pads and upright containers at the Yucca site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and to deliver high level nuclear waste from Defense Department and DOE sites.

Assuming the Energy Department can keep to licensing and construction schedules and complete environmental studies, the bill would allow shipments to commence as early as 2010.

DOE officials have said they believe the Yucca site could be ready to begin accepting nuclear waste by 2017 but probably five or six years later as a more realistic estimate.