Lisa Murkowski: “Today's veto of the nuclear waste bill is an important step to protect the health, safety, and the environment. He is…”

“Today's veto of the nuclear waste bill is an important step to protect the health, safety, and the environment. He is saying the President's veto is in the interest of protecting health, safety, and the environment. He is saying leave it at those sites in the 40 States. That must be what he is saying. This legislation was rejected because it does nothing to assist in conducting the best scientific research into the . . . Yucca Mountain site. . . . What are the EPA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the National Academy of Sciences? That is the best science we have, and yet he says there is no science involved in this process. . . . the legislation limits the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to set appropriate radiation . . . standards. That is contrary to reality. It does not. We do give that authority to the EPA. I believe we need to find a permanent solution for the disposal-- We all agree we need a permanent solution, but the Vice President does not suggest any permanent solution. We have spent almost $7 billion digging a hole out of Yucca Mountain and, in 1998, the ratepayers have paid $16 billion to the Federal Government to take the waste. Now the taxpayers, as a consequence of the inability of the Federal Government to live under the terms of that contract, are looking at a liability exposure of $40 billion to $80 billion.”