Energy Dept. Threatens No Nuclear Cleanup

[Judi Lynn]

Energy Dept. Threatens No Nuclear Cleanup

Wednesday April 7, 2004 9:01 PM


By H. JOSEF HEBERT

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department is threatening to withhold $350 million that was to pay for disposal of some of the most dangerous radioactive waste from Cold War bomb-making. First, it says, Congress and state officials must accept a cleanup plan already rejected in court.

The issue has pitted a half dozen states against the Bush administration - raising concern that some of the millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste that are supposed to be solidified and buried by the government may, in fact, remain in place.

``I will not allow DOE to hold this work hostage, or to hold this budget hostage,'' Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, told the head of the Energy Department cleanup effort at a recent hearing.

On Capitol Hill and in the states facing the cleanup task, critics are accusing the department of trying to force states to accept less stringent cleanup standards to save money and finish the job more quickly. The department argues that some of the waste has a low enough level of radioactivity that it can be covered with cement ground and left in place.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3951712,00.html

[whatelseisnew]

1. And W* is on vacation AGAIN!

[evworldeditor]

2. Every Time He Goes on Vacation, I Start to Worry

His last "extended" vacation in Crawford was just before 9/11, where he spent the longest vacation in Presidential history... avoiding, I suspect, a coming Al Queda attack.

So, what's he avoiding this time?

[whatelseisnew]

3. kick for icymist

[struggle4progress]

4. Many thanks for posting this!

:kick:

[Judi Lynn]

5. Thanks for reading! It's just so damned sneaky and underhanded

it makes me ill. Standard operating _Bush procedure, of course. More from the article:

Last year a federal judge in Idaho said that the Energy Department's plan to reclassify some of the waste in the tanks as ``low level'' and not remove it for burial violated the law. He said Congress specifically said all the waste, the byproduct of plutonium production during the Cold War, has to be treated as ``high-level'' waste and must be buried in a central facility, probably the planned site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

The cleanup at sites in Washington, Idaho, South Carolina and New York is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars and take decades.

But the head of the cleanup program, Jessie Roberson, told congressional committees recently that the department has no plans to spend the $350 million earmarked for next fiscal year - and probably will not even ask Congress for it - unless it is allowed to reclassify some of the radioactive waste to make disposal easier and cheaper.
(snip)

``They didn't get their way in court, so now they want the law changed,'' said Murray in an interview. ``Everyone is for accelerated cleanup as long as it's done in a way that protects workers' safety and we don't cut corners.''
(snip/...)

It's always great seeing a staunch Republican like Senator Larry Craig standing up to these slimes.

[pfitz59]

6. Stuff is leaking into Snake and Columbia Rivers....

Water supplies for entire Northwest US!