Yucca Mountain fight averted

WASHINGTON -- A fight over Yucca Mountain was averted in Congress on Wednesday when an Illinois senator dropped plans for an amendment to revive the Nevada nuclear waste site.

Republican Sen. Mark Kirk said he shelved his proposal after it became clear it was not going to prevail with the necessary 60 votes.

"This was a big fight inside the Republican conference," Kirk said, citing opposition from Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. "Everybody was expecting a fight, but you want to make sure you are advancing your cause."

Kirk, whose state has the most commercial nuclear power plants and stores the most spent nuclear fuel once destined for the Nevada site, had not formally submitted an amendment during this week's Senate debate on a 2012 energy and water spending bill.

But he said he planned to, and his intent was to put the Yucca project on life support through the 2012 elections, when Republicans might capture control of the Senate and the White House and be in a position to resurrect the project, which has been terminated by President Barack Obama.

The looming debate was being watched by officials in various states and energy interest groups and had sparked pushback from Heller and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, who has exerted power to get the repository scrapped.

A debate on Yucca Mountain would have returned to public view an issue that Nevada leaders would just as soon be considered dead and gone. Reid and Heller worked to prevent it from coming up at all.

Reid "was working behind the scenes lining up opposition to this amendment," a Democratic staffer said. "He made it abundantly clear it was doomed to fail, and it was pulled."

The episode also was being watched by Democrats as a test for Heller, who was appointed to the Senate in May and is seeking to win election in 2012 while being opposed by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a Reid ally.

Reid and Heller had little contact and worked separately on the Yucca Mountain issue during the week, aides said.

Heller introduced a Yucca amendment of his own in an effort to block Kirk after trying to persuade the fellow Republican to withdraw during talks last week.

"Senator Kirk and I had numerous conversations. Obviously we differ on Yucca Mountain," Heller said. "I told him I would adamantly oppose any amendment he had moving forward. He understood that. I supplied an opposing amendment, and I would like to think he saw this as a losing battle."

Kirk on Wednesday took the unusual step to call a reporter unsolicited and was effusive in crediting Heller for his work on the Yucca issue.

"I didn't just have Harry Reid to deal with," Kirk said. "Hats off to Dean for working it the way he did."

Kirk said he and his allies were going to "lick our wounds from going up against Deano."

"I am not certain of the circumstances that prompted him to call," Heller spokesman Stewart Bybee said when asked whether Kirk had been prompted by anyone to make calls complimenting Heller on his handling of Yucca Mountain.

Kirk said he would focus on lobbying a House-Senate conference committee to add Yucca Mountain money into the energy and water bill before it gets to final passage.

Kirk was seeking $45 million for Yucca in fiscal 2012, an amount approved this summer in the House version of the bill. The Senate provided zero funds.

The Illinois senator also said he planned to work on legislation over the winter that would promise benefits to Nevada if it reversed course and accepted nuclear waste.

"Because the Nevada economy is in such terrible shape, I will reach out to leaders in the state to see if we can develop a win-win," Kirk said. "I would like to innovate my way out of this in the sense of looking at a positive proposal that benefits the state budget and the economy."

Reid indicated he was not interested.

"I understand that there are a few people in Washington who still want to spend nearly $100 billion of taxpayer money to dump nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain," he said. "However, they need to understand that this dangerous project is over and will not be resurrected."

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.