NUCLEAR WASTE LEGISLATION IN THE NEWS 2000-2001
December 22, 2001 -- Reid blocks vote on nominee to lead Yucca project WASHINGTON - Government science manager Margaret Chu was passed over by the Senate on Thursday for confirmation to head the Yucca Mountain Project, the result of a block by Sen. Harry Reid -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
November 28, 2001 -- House renews protection for nuclear power plants WASHINGTON - The House on Tuesday approved a 15-year extension of the government insurance program for nuclear utilities in a bill that also calls on the Bush administration to upgrade security at power plants -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
November 27, 2001 -- Price-Anderson Act: House vote set on nuclear plant liability support WASHINGTON - The House is scheduled to vote today on renewing a 44-year-old law that gives the nuclear power industry the government's help with disaster liability -- Donrey Washington Bureau (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
November 14, 2001 -- Berkley bill calls for threat study of Yucca WASHINGTON - Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., today introduced legislation designed to slow the plan to bury the nation's high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
October 31, 2001 -- Negotiators cut proposed spending for Yucca Mountain by $70 million WASHINGTON - Congressional negotiators on Tuesday night cut proposed spending for nuclear waste studies at Yucca Mountain by $70 million -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
October 31, 2001 -- Reid gets his way on Yucca budget WASHINGTON - Every year congressional lawmakers who want to bury the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada engage in a months-long tussle with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., over the Yucca Mountain budget -- By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
October 28, 2001 -- Move could affect Yucca Mountain debate WASHINGTON - The cast of players in the long-running nuclear waste debate on Capitol Hill could shift next year as Sen. Frank Murkowski, a leading backer of spent fuel burial in Nevada, has announced he is running for governor of Alaska -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
October 17, 2001 -- YMP decision Congress bound? The process was detailed at the start of Friday's public hearing in Pahrump, and one thing appears clear: The ultimate fate of the Yucca Mountain Project will almost certainly rest with Congress -- By Henry Brean (Pahrump Valley Times)
October 09, 2001 -- House panel talks Yucca security WASHINGTON - The best way to protect nuclear waste from terrorists is to ship it from sites around the country to a high-security location in Nevada, a key senator on energy issues said today -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
October 05, 2001 -- Berkley: Possible threats at Yucca a top priority WASHINGTON - The nation's new Office of Homeland Security should make one of its first jobs analyzing a terrorist threat at the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Thursday -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
October 05, 2001 -- Berkley bill would study Yucca Mountain security WASHINGTON - Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Thursday she is forming legislation that would require the incoming director of homeland security to develop plans to defend the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository against terrorist attacks -- Donrey Washington Bureau (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
October 04, 2001 -- House panel OKs bill on security for nuclear plants, waste WASHINGTON - A House committee Wednesday approved a bill that directs the government to pull its security blanket tighter over commercial nuclear plants and spent-fuel storage, including a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
September 07, 2001 -- DOE lobbies for renewal of insurance plan WASHINGTON - Congress needs to quickly renew a government plan that makes taxpayers - not utility companies - liable for catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents if cleanup costs spiral out of control, an Energy Department official told a House panel this week -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
September 07, 2001 -- Legal protection in nuclear accidents debated House energy committee discusses renewal of Price-Anderson Act, which is set to expire in August -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Reivew-Journal)
August 02, 2001 -- Budget Amendment Killed: Tight rein kept on Yucca spending WASHINGTON - The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project will stay on a slow track after House leaders on Wednesday refused to loosen budget rules to speed the program -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
August 01, 2001 -- House rejects Yucca bill: Legislation would have given DOE more authority The House today scrapped -- for now -- legislation that would have taken Yucca Mountain project spending authority away from Congress -- By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
July 28, 2001 -- Subcommittee chairmanship: Reid boosts nuclear power control WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid this week gained oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, adding to the Nevada Democrat's ability to influence energy issues and the Yucca Mountain project -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
July 24, 2001 -- Amendment to study hazmat routes passes WASHINGTON - An amendment passed Monday by the U.S. Senate directs the government to study the safety of routes used to transport hazardous chemicals and nuclear waste around the nation -- Donrey Washington Bureau (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
July 20, 2001 -- Reid: Some Yucca Mountain money to return WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday he will agree to restore some of the $170 million he cut from the Yucca Mountain budget as Congress prioritizes energy spending for next year -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
July 19, 2001 -- Slim Yucca budget set to advance The U.S. Senate today was expected to approve a bill that contains the smallest budget since 1992 for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Pro-Yucca lawmakers led by Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the budget was so small it would "basically kill" the project -- By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
July 19, 2001 -- Analysis: Nuke waste budget cut will cause layoffs, delays WASHINGTON - If it is allowed to stand in Congress, a deep Yucca Mountain budget cut engineered by Sen. Harry Reid would force 650 layoffs in the government science project, indefinitely delay site licensing and make it impossible to begin burying nuclear waste in the state by a 2010 target, the Department of Energy said Wednesday -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
July 10, 2001 -- Bill focuses on nuclear waste fund WASHINGTON - Members of the House Energy Committee are preparing legislation that aims to make it easier for the Energy Department to gain funding it needs to keep a proposed Nevada nuclear waste repository on track -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 29, 2001 -- Plan to study Yucca routes fails WASHINGTON - A Nevada effort to draw attention to routes where nuclear waste might be shipped for burial at Yucca Mountain failed on Thursday when the House of Representatives killed a call for transportation studies in the next year -- Las Vegas Review Jounal
June 27, 2001 -- Disclosure of nuclear waste routes is sought U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., plans to insert an amendment to the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill today to force the Energy Department to publish nationwide high-level nuclear waste transportation routes -- Las Vegas Sun
June 23, 2001 -- Yucca funding proceeds; $443 million about to pass receptive House WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives is on a path to largely grant the Bush administration's budget request for the Yucca Mountain program next year -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 08, 2001 -- Senator adjusts Yucca stance WASHINGTON - One of the Senate's leading backers of nuclear waste burial said Thursday he would support more research into alternatives now that it appears Nevada has more clout to block bills that would ease development of a repository at Yucca Mountain -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 07, 2001 -- Senator: Yucca bills unlikely this year WASHINGTON -- Any Yucca Mountain-related legislation is not likely to surface in the Senate this year, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., now the leading senator on energy issues, said Wednesday -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
June 06, 2001 -- Reid, Ensign say Yucca groundwater protection important for health and safety of Nevadans Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senators Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R) today said that a newly published radiation standard for Yucca Mountain contains important radiation limits to protect groundwater under the site and called the move a milestone in the battle to allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to carry out the law -- Senator Harry Reid
June 05, 2001 -- Gibbons pleased EPA will set Yucca safety standard RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Bush administration will stick with radiation protection standards equal to or stronger than the ones the Environmental Protection Agency was preparing for Yucca Mountain under the Clinton administration, a Nevada congressman said Tuesday -- Associated Press
June 01, 2001 -- Daschle: Switch may stall bills that would affect Nevada The upcoming power shift in the U.S. Senate could retard legislative efforts to bring nuclear waste to Nevada and ban legal wagering on college sports, incoming Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Thursday -- By Jan Moller (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
May 31, 2001 -- Berkley plans Yucca measure WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley plans to introduce legislation next week to shut down the Yucca Mountain program and divert billions of dollars to find alternatives to nuclear waste burial -- By Steve Tetreault (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
May 30, 2001 -- Berkley bill would divert Yucca funds WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., plans to introduce a bill next week that would divert all spending on the proposed Yucca Mountain project to alternative waste-management technologies -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
May 15, 2001 -- Reid Criticizes Increased Budget for Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management WASHINGTON, D.C. - At a Senate appropriations hearing today, Nevada Senator Harry Reid criticized the Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management for its continued cost over runs and mismanagement of the Yucca Mountain Project.
May 09, 2001 -- REID Questions NRC members at nuclear oversight hearing Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, today questioned members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about the future of nuclear power, waste disposal, and its role in undermining the issuance of a groundwater standard at Yucca Mountain - Senator Reid Press Release
May 08, 2001 -- Cheney meets with Nevada senators over Yucca dump WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney met with Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., today over nuclear waste and the future of nuclear power in the United States. The three met in Cheney's office in the Capitol for a rare private discussion about nuclear waste and the future of nuclear power in the United States. Cheney, who has the power to break tied votes in the evenly split Senate, agreed to meet with Nevada's senators for 15 minutes to discuss the state's high-priority issue - By Benjamin Grove, Las Vegas Sun (Related Story)
April 13, 2001 -- Clinton wary of Yucca safety FALLON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said she is concerned about health and safety standards for a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, but added that she does not oppose the project 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas -- By Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
April 03, 2001 -- Berkley demands oversight money for Yucca Mountain WASHINGTON -- Nevada needs $11 million in federal money from Congress to oversee the Congress-approved plans to establish Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste dump, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., wrote in a letter to a key lawmaker on Monday -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
March 15, 2001 -- Legislators readying anti-nuke waste measure CARSON CITY -- Legislation to bar the transportation of high-level nuclear waste to within 10 miles of any city or town in Nevada is ready to be introduced today in the state Senate -- By Cy Ryan (Las Vegas Sun)
March 09, 2001 -- Key GOP senators back off Nevada as site for interim waste storage Republican senators who in the past have pushed an effort for temporary storage of high-level nuclear waste in Nevada before scientific studies of the permanent Yucca Mountain repository are completed now say they will not press for the interim measure -- By Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
March 8, 2001 -- Legislature sends President Bush a resolution reaffirming its opposition to Yucca Mountain With just two dissenting votes in the Senate, Nevada lawmakers Wednesday reaffirmed their opposition to any attempt to locate a nuclear dump in Nevada -- By Geoff Dornan (Nevada Appeal)
March 08, 2001 -- Nuke bill solicits funds to create waste option Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., proposed a nuclear energy bill Wednesday that includes $120 million for technology to transform radioactive wastes into less harmful materials -- By Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
March 08, 2001 -- Water law change may help Nevada Idaho's Republican senators have introduced a bill that experts said would change Western water law, making it harder for the federal government to get water for Indian tribes and the wilderness while helping Nevada battle a nuclear waste repository -- Las Vegas Sun
March 07, 2001 -- Legislators spreading word on Yucca CARSON CITY -- Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said today that efforts by Nevada lawmakers to convince their counterparts in other states of the dangers of transportation of nuclear waste is "starting to pick up steam" -- By Cy Ryan (Las Vegas Sun)
January 22, 2001 -- Reid lone dissenter at Abraham hearing Reid told his colleagues on the Senate floor Saturday that he was opposing Abraham because of his "troubling record" on storing nuclear waste in Nevada, including Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas -- By Jeff German (Las Vegas Sun)
December 15, 2000 -- Nuke panel urges state to veto Yucca rulings The Commission on Nuclear Projects today recommended that the Nevada Legislature adopt a resolution to veto any congressional decision to make Yucca Mountain a high-level nuclear waste repository -- By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN
November 13, 2000 -- Nuclear dump foes hope for allies in new Congress Nevada lawmakers may have picked up a few allies on Election Night in their battle against nuclear waste -- By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning (Las Vegas Sun)
October 28, 2000 -- Senate races may decide fate of Yucca dumpsite WASHINGTON -- Election Day is fast approaching and Nevada officials are eagerly eyeing 10 or so of the nation's closest Senate races -- expensive, high-stakes battles that ultimately could shape nuclear waste legislation next year -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
October 28, 2000 -- With all seats up for grabs, House effect on nuke vote tough to call WASHINGTON -- How will the hotly contested House races nationwide affect a vote on a nuclear waste bill next year? -- By Benjamin Grove (Las Vegas Sun)
October 28, 2000 -- House speaker reiterates support for Yucca Mountain waste dump RENO - Another top Republican in Congress is sounding off again in support of building a nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain -- Associated Press (Nevada Appeal)
September 29, 2000 -- Bush says he'd veto Yucca as interim site CARSON CITY -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush says that if elected president he would veto any bill to send nuclear waste to an interim storage site in Nevada -- By Cy Ryan (Las Vegas Sun)
September 13, 2000 -- Nuke waste prompts legislative action CARSON CITY (AP) - An increased amount of low-level nuclear waste is being shipped to the Nevada Test Site for storage, and that worries some state legislators -- Associated Press (Las Vegas Sun)
August 20, 2000 -- Democrats, Republicans battle over nuclear waste issue LOS ANGELES — For Nevada’s political leaders, the balloons and the partisan speeches that dominated the Democratic and Republican conventions formed a backdrop for the parties’ increasingly ugly tug-of-war over nuclear waste -- By Fredreka Schouten (Reno Gazette-Journal)
August 17, 2000 -- Nevada Democrats applaud Gore letter LOS ANGELES -- Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday said he would follow President Clinton's lead in vetoing legislation that lowers health and safety standards for a permanent nuclear waste repository being planned for Yucca Mountain -- By Jane Ann Morrison (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
August 11, 2000 -- Senators confront House Speaker on nuclear waste Hastert has consistently supported Republican-led efforts to speed up nuclear waste storage in Nevada and was critical of the White House for vetoing legislation earlier this year that would have blocked stringent radiation standards for Yucca Mountain -- Elko Daily Free Press
August 09, 2000 -- Porter at odds with speaker over Yucca nuclear waste issue Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and state Sen. Jon Porter, who is running for Congress, agreed on Tuesday to disagree over the proposed storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain -- By Jace Radke (Las Vegas Sun)
August 07, 2000 -- Senator Bryan: Nevada nuked if Bush is elected VIRGINIA CITY - An interim nuclear storage site could be established in Nevada eight months after presidential frontrunner George W. Bush takes office, U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan said Sunday at a town hall meeting -- By Susie Vasquez (Nevada Appeal)
August 05, 2000 -- Congress plans to cut Yucca funding request LAS VEGAS - The nation's nuclear waste chief says Congress intends to slash millions of dollars from the Clinton administration's request for funding the Yucca Mountain project -- Associated Press (Nevada Appeal)
August 04, 2000 -- Official: Congress plans to cut Yucca funding request The nation's nuclear waste chief told state and county governments Thursday that Congress intends to slash millions of dollars from the Clinton administration's request for funding the Yucca Mountain Project -- By Keith Rogers (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 29, 2000 -- Gibbons: Bill passed by House supports nuclear waste WASHINGTON -- An energy and water project bill that had prompted a deep split among Nevada lawmakers passed the House early Wednesday by a wide margin -- By Steve Tetreault Donrey Washington Bureau (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 28, 2000 -- Yearly bill becomes hot potato A routine measure with money for state projects spurs posturing over the issue of nuclear waste -- By Tony Batt, Donrey Washington Bureau (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
June 13, 2000 -- House panel OKs $2.5 million for state oversight of Yucca Nearly four months ago, Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid suggested that Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn dump the state's leading nuclear waste bureaucrat because congressional antipathy toward Bob Loux prevented Nevada from getting federal oversight money for the Yucca Mountain project -- By Jane Ann Morrison Las Review-Journal
May 17, 2000 -- Reid says energy package 'has no hope of
passing
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious bill aimed at redesigning the nation's energy policy, and one key tenet would increase production of nuclear power in America -- By Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN
May 03, 2000 -- Senate may hold another vote on president's veto WASHINGTON -- Like a horror film monster that refuses to die, the bill that would speed up shipments
of nuclear waste to Nevada appeared to perish on Tuesday -- again. But it's still breathing. "I thought we had delivered the silver stake through the issue, but it looks like we might see it again this
year," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said -- By Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN
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