[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S10585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY AT 
                             YUCCA MOUNTAIN

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to address an issue of 
great national concern--this country's nuclear waste policy. In 1982, 
Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which directed the 
Department of Energy to develop a permanent repository for highly 
radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and defense facilities. 
Congress passed amendments to that act in 1987, which limited DOE's 
repository development activities to a single site at Yucca Mountain, 
NV. Since 1983, electric consumers have contributed $11 billion to 
finance the development of a permanent storage site. Despite DOE's 
obligation to take title to spent nuclear fuel in 1998, a permanent 
repository at Yucca Mountain will not be ready to accept this waste 
until the year 2010, at the earliest.
  Mr. President, the House of Representatives recently passed the 
energy and water development appropriations bill for 1996. This bill 
recommends that $425 million be made available for DOE's spent fuel 
disposal program, $200 million below the level needed to continue 
developing a permanent site. Furthermore, the committee report to this 
bill directs DOE to ``concentrate available resources on the 
development and implementation of a national interim storage program,'' 
and to ``downgrade, suspend or terminate its activities at Yucca 
Mountain.''
  Mr. President, I am greatly concerned by the action of the House. We 
have already spent 12 years and $4.2 billion to find a permanent 
repository site and conduct development activities at Yucca Mountain. 
No other viable site for permanent storage has been considered since 
1987. If we terminate or suspend activities at Yucca Mountain now, we 
will be wasting the time and money invested since 1982 toward finding a 
suitable location. As I have already stated, the electric consumers of 
this Nation have contributed $11 billion, and we are still behind 
schedule. How can we, in good conscience, discontinue our efforts at 
Yucca Mountain when so much time and money has been invested there. To 
do so would eradicate the progress we have made and abolish any hope of 
developing a permanent site in the near future. It is our obligation to 
the American people to develop a permanent repository as quickly as 
possible and, therefore, we must persist with the efforts at Yucca 
Mountain. It is our only alternative.
  Mr. President, I realize that continuing development of the permanent 
site at Yucca Mountain will not completely solve the spent fuel 
problem. In 1998, 23 nuclear reactors will run out of space to store 
spent fuel. At that time, storage will become DOE's responsibility. 
Therefore, we need to designate an interim storage site to use until 
the permanent facility at Yucca Mountain is available. The most logical 
location for an interim site is Yucca Mountain. Transportation of spent 
nuclear fuel is a delicate undertaking, so it is sensible to locate an 
interim facility as near to the permanent facility as is possible. 
Likewise, the proximity of an interim site to the permanent site would 
save money on transportation costs between the two sites. Comprehensive 
legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and House that 
offers a solution to the spent fuel problem, including the construction 
of an interim facility at Yucca Mountain.
  Building a central interim storage facility at Yucca Mountain by 1998 
and continuing to develop a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain by 
2010 is our most reasonable course of action. Too much time and money 
has been invested to change directions now. As my colleagues on the 
Appropriations Committee consider funding for the project at Yucca 
Mountain, I urge them to remember the commitment we have made to the 
citizens of this Nation. Any efforts to abandon this program will 
deprive this country of a long-term solution to our nuclear waste 
storage dilemma.


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