Dodging Suits and Pols, DOE Digs In on Nuclear Waste
Chair Murkowski Chews Out an Undersecretary. At a Senate panel on a bill calling for the Department of Energy to store nuclear waste short-term, opponents stacked up objections, even renewing opposition to a permanent site.
The "Nuclear Waste Policy Act," S. 104, is similar to a bill passed in the Senate last year. It calls for
construction of temporary storage, a safe way to transport the waste, and more studies leading to a permanent site 1,200 feet below the ground at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Already, $6 billion has helped bore an exploratory tunnel there.