From The
League of Conservation Voters, at http://www.capwiz.com/lcv/issues/votes/?votenum=63&chamber=H&congress=1062
Nuclear
Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2000
03/22/2000
House Roll Call No. 63
106th Congress, 2nd Session
Nuclear Waste
Radioactive
waste is one of the most dangerous substances on earth and remains dangerous for
hundreds of thousands of years. In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act, directing the Department of Energy to develop two deep-burial sites
for the permanent disposal of "high level nuclear waste" from nuclear
power plants. In 1987, Congress amended the Act to designate only one permanent
repository to be located at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles from Las Vegas,
Nevada. The 1987 amendment also prohibits an interim waste dump from being
located in a state that is being studied for a permanent repository. In 1992,
Congress passed legislation that requires the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to develop site-specific radiation standards for Yucca Mountain.
For the past 13 years, the Energy Department has been studying whether Yucca
Mountain is a viable permanent waste site. These studies have uncovered serious
technical problems with the site. For example, at least 33 known earthquake
faults lie in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain. Scientists also believe that
groundwater at Yucca Mountain will become contaminated by radioactive wastes and
that this contamination could reach the outside environment in less than 1,000
years. In 1999, EPA proposed a groundwater radiation standard for Yucca Mountain
similar to that used for drinking water. However, because recent information
shows that the site could exceed these standards, the nuclear industry, the
Energy Department, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have pushed to weaken
that standard.
On-site waste storage facilities are reported to be nearly full at some nuclear
power plants, and the nuclear power industry is pushing for a federal interim
storage facility until a permanent repository is completed. Senator Frank
Murkowski (R-AK) introduced S. 1287, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments of
2000, which would allow some of the waste from nuclear power plants to be
transported to Yucca Mountain before construction of the permanent repository is
complete, forcing dangerous radioactive waste onto the nation's roads and rails.
The final repository would accept a total of 40,000 metric tons of irradiated
fuel, which would be shipped through 43 states at the risk of transport
accidents involving nuclear waste. In addition, S. 1287 would undermine EPA's
ability to set radiation standards by delaying its implementation of the
standards for at least one year.
On March 22, 2000, the House passed S. 1287 by a 253-167 vote (House roll call
vote 63). NO is the pro-environment vote. President Clinton subsequently vetoed
the bill, and the Senate failed to achieve the two-thirds vote necessary to
override the veto.
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