Lindsey Graham: “There was another Energy and Water hearing where the same topic was brought before the Congress. The topic is, how are…”

“There was another Energy and Water hearing where the same topic was brought before the Congress. The topic is, how are you doing with your efforts to reach agreements with the three States in question to find cleanup standards they can agree to that are environmentally sound, that will allow things to go forward in a more expeditious manner? The truth is, we have spent billions of dollars talking about cleaning up and we have done nothing but let tanks leak and have waste stay around for years and decades. Now we have a new model. Now we have new money, $350 million of new dollars, and we are using commonsense approaches to cleanup. What are we trying to do in South Carolina? If I can explain very quickly. I am not a scientist, but I do have fairly good common sense. The 51 tanks that have high-level waste, those tanks will be cleaned up. The liquid in those tanks will be converted to glass logs, it is called vitrification, and that will be sent to Yucca Mountain. What we are trying to do is clean these tanks up in a manner consistent with safety for South Carolina. The amendment says no tank can be closed unless the State of South Carolina issues a closure permit. The letter from my Governor says, not only am I aware of what you are doing, Senator Graham, I support it because it will allow the tanks to be closed up 23 years ahead of schedule, it will save money, and we don't have to worry about tanks deteriorating.”