Reid-Ensign bill calls for nuclear waste blue ribbon panel
WASHINGTON -- A bill creating a nine-member expert panel to recommend a new nuclear waste strategy for the nation was introduced this afternoon in the U.S. Senate.
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Reid-Ensign bill ) |
Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign proposed forming a blue ribbon commission that would be given two years to set a new path for how thousands of tons of highly radioactive materials should be managed. The nuclear waste now is stored at power plants and at government facilities in 39 states.
The legislation was structured by the Nevada senators so that the new path will lead away from Yucca Mountain, the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas that has been the focus of the government's nuclear waste disposal efforts for the past 20 years.
It follows an announcement last month that President Barack Obama plans to dramatically scale back the proposed Nevada underground repository, while seeking alternatives.
“The Obama Administration has confirmed its position that Yucca Mountain is not an option for solving our nuclear waste issues in this country,” Reid, the Democratic majority leader, said in a statement accompanying the bill. "We recognize the great need for viable alternatives, though, and believe this commission is the right first step away from Yucca Mountain and toward safe and scientifically sound answers to the nuclear waste problems we face as a nation.”
Under the bill, Democrats in Congress would choose five members and Republicans would choose four. Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would appoint the chairman.
The bill foresees no formal role for the Obama administration in setting up or operating the commission. Reid would be open to suggestions from the White House or others in the administration, aides said.
The group would be charged with examining a range of issues that have grown around the nuclear waste program in recent years. Those would include whether the government could take ownership of waste at nuclear reactor sites, or set up a centralized site where the material could be gathered and stored on an interim basis.
The commission would assess the research being done on nuclear waste reprocessing and other advanced methods of managing the material. It also would examine possible cost sharing between the government and private industry as research progresses, and whether the nuclear waste disposal program should be moved from the Department of Energy to a government corporation.
It also would examine whether storing nuclear waste underground remains advisable. But the group would be instructed to disregard any role for Yucca Mountain in whatever they recommend, Reid aides confirmed.
“I’m pleased that this commission will rely on scientific experts and the facts, as opposed to the politics that created Yucca Mountain, which is the wrong policy for America," Ensign said.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
