William Bryan: “Mr. President, I understand the concern that my friend from Tennessee has. It is a concern that Nevadans have had for…”

“Mr. President, I understand the concern that my friend from Tennessee has. It is a concern that Nevadans have had for many years. Let me say where I respectfully disagree with him is that if he is concerned about the movement of nuclear waste to an interim storage facility, the most effective protection that the State of Tennessee and all States have is the existing law--is the existing law. There are two provisions in the existing law. One of them is specifically in reference to the Senator's concern from the State of Tennessee and, indeed, is a product of the Tennessee State delegation's actions on the floor a decade ago. Under the present law, no interim storage anywhere in any State can be located until an application for license of a permanent repository. So his State under the current law is absolutely protected, as is every other State. And the reason why that was inserted in the legislation at that time was a policy consideration. Our colleagues then recognized the great temptation that an interim or temporary facility might become a permanent repository de facto, a concern which the Senators from Nevada are very gravely concerned about. So every State that is concerned about it being a potential target for interim storage under the present law has no need to worry at all. That is the ultimate protection. The law right now precludes the location of interim storage until the application for licensure for the permit.”