Political Quotes

“with respect to disposal of high-level nuclear waste, this Nation is today at a crossroads. The job and the responsibility of addressing the disposal of spent nuclear fuel from our Nation's powerplants--is an obligation of this body. The time for fixing the problem is now. There has been a lot of progress made. We have selected a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain. That is already done. It is underway. We have expended about $6 billion, and that 5-mile exploratory tunnel will soon be completed. This is a positive commitment by the Congress to proceed with a permanent repository. We can build on this process. This bill, Senate bill 104, continues the site characterization activities for a permanent repository. Make no mistake about it. But this is an ongoing process. In the meantime, we have an obligation to take this waste next year, in 1998. Well, this Senator from Alaska and the majority of my committee are of the opinion that a contract is a binding commitment. The Federal Government, 16 years ago, entered into a contract with the nuclear industry to take this waste in 1998. We have no place to put this waste because Yucca Mountain isn't completed. We face penalties; we face litigation. It is estimated that the damages associated with the inability to fulfill the contractual commitment will run somewhere between $40 billion and $80 billion. That is an additional load on the taxpayers of this country.…”