Nuke Waste Transport Appears Stopped for Now, But New Bill Makes It More Likely in the Future

Since 1996, the Nuclear Energy Institute (the lobbying arm of the nuclear power industry) has tried to reduce its costs by supporting legislation that would establish interim storage for its high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada at public expense. Had the legislation passed thousands of shipments of high-level nuclear waste would have been transported through Indiana to Nevada for "temporary" storage.

Frustrated by continued resistance in the U.S. Senate to support immediate transportation of high-level nuclear waste to Nevada without approval for Yucca Mountain as a permanent disposal site, proponents of the nuclear power industry have introduced a new bill, S. 1287, which has passed committee and is ready for a floor vote. Although S. 1287 (The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999) abandons the idea of immediate interim storage at Yucca Mountain and provides for keeping high nuclear waste at nuclear power plants in the mean time, provisions of the bill:

1) Make it easier to approve Yucca Mountain for final disposal of high level nuclear waste by undercutting public health protections; and,

2) Do not address transportation safety concerns so communities cannot adequately protect themselves against transportation accidents involving high level nuclear waste.

Although the public has won in the U.S. Senate with regard to immediate transportation of high-level nuclear waste through Indiana, S. 1287:

• Strips the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to set health-based radiation standards at Yucca Mountain and establishes an arbitrary, weak radiation exposure standard.

• Mandates that Yucca Mountain has only to be safe for 10,000 years, although the waste will be toxic for 240,000 years.

• Does not require full-scale testing of nuclear waste casks to prove their viability in severe accidents and from terrorist attacks.

• Does not provide adequate funds to properly train and equip emergency response personnel.

• Allows waste to be shipped before Yucca Mountain is fully licensed.

• Puts the cart before the horse by mandating that transportation routes specifically to Yucca Mountain be designated before it is approved for final disposal.

Due to amendments, the House version of Mobile Chernobyl, H.R.45, now contains similar provisions. However, it allows for waste to be shipped sooner than S. 1287. It appears that House leadership is waiting for Senate action on S. 1287 before calling for a vote on H.R. 45.

New Developments

Since last year, there have been a number of developments on the Mobile Chernobyl issue:

• The Indiana House of Representatives passed House Resolution 56, urging Congress not to transport nuclear waste until the nuclear power plants have been shut down and the location of a permanent disposal facility has been determined.

• Public Citizen, CAC, and others petitioned the Department of Energy (DOE) to disqualify Yucca Mountain based on ground water data which confirms that Yucca Mountain most likely will not be able to contain radioactive waste. DOE did not refute us. But, the agency wants to study the situation more to see if it can come up with data to refute us.

What You Can Do

Call or write your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives today. (see below) Urge them to vote against S. 1287 and H.R. 45. Call newly elected U.S. Senator Evan Bayh. Thank him for his vote against S. 1287 in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Ask for his continued opposition to S. 1287.

U.S. Representatives Who Voted "Yes" (Anti-Consumer) on Mobile Chernobyl in 1998

U.S. Representatives Who Voted "No" (Pro-Consumer) on Mobile Chernobyl in 1998

(*Baron Hill, a freshman, was not in office in 1998)

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