Both tallies are short of the two-thirds necessary to override a threatened Presidential veto. Civilian nuclear power plants generate nearly one-quarter of the nation s electric power supply. In 1999, nuclear power was the second largest source of electricity, second only to coal and providing twice the amount from natural gas and hydro-power. In 1982, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act specified that the government would build a deep geologic repository by 1998 for the long term storage of spent nuclear fuel. The Department of Energy currently estimates that the most optimistic time for acceptance of waste at the site is 2010.
Nuclear power is a vital component in the engine that drives the American economy.
We cannot afford to walk away from our commitment and throw up our hands. Something must be done with the thousands of tons of radioactive fuel current sitting in spent fuel pools across the nation. The legislation sets up a mechanism to end the costly legal battles between nuclear utilities and the government for its failure to meet the 1998 deadline under the act. It provides for a possible early receipt of spent fuel at Yucca Mountain, potentially as early as 2006 and it provides for safe transport of waste along the lines established for the defense Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, already in operation in Nevada. On the House floor, Rep. Knollenberg stated, Let me assure you that transport of spent fuel along the nation s highways and railways is safe.