Political Quotes

“I rise to note that the passage of the energy and water appropriations bill brings us one step closer to the completion of the West Valley demonstration project in western New York. In 1982 we authorized the West Valley demonstration project, in which we would learn to take liquid nuclear waste and mix it with glass. The process is called vitrification, and yields ten foot high glass logs that can be stored safely. After 14 years of preparation, research, and testing, vitrification began last July. On May 28 the 100th glass log was produced. The success of the vitrification process developed at West Valley and at Savannah River in Georgia led the Department of Energy to select it as the preferred method of disposal for such wastes. This is an accomplishment that the many hundreds of people in western New York who worked on the project can be most proud of. They have another 110 logs to go at West Valley, but the method works. Through fiscal year 1997 we have spent $1.2 billion on the project. The final amount in the bill for next year has not been determined, but it will it will bring the total over $1.3 billion. This has been money well spent, and will continue to be. We have learned to dispose of one type of hazardous waste, and can dispose of others with the vitrification process.”