Senate panel set to mark up transmission, nuclear plans Wednesday

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/05/04/04greenwire-senate-panel-set-to-mark-up-transmission-nucle-12208.html

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'Nuclear waste'-ing away

Republican members will get a chance to vote on their nuclear power priorities Wednesday, a topic that has been simmering under the surface of almost every hearing so far.

The most pressing concern: what to do with spent nuclear fuel now that the Obama administration has all but canceled the deep geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Senators worry that the lack of a strategy for nuclear waste will dampen utilities' enthusiasm to build the 26 reactors whose applications are currently being reviewed at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The committee released a joint staff draft (pdf) Friday that would establish an 11-member nuclear waste commission chosen by the president -- with no more than 6 members from one political party -- whose mandate would be to study at least four ways to handle the nation's nuclear waste and write a report including recommendations for waste management. Under the draft, the commission is also to review the Yucca Mountain selection and site characterization to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The bill would instruct the commission to consider deep geologic repository waste disposal, long-term storage on-site at reactors, long-term storage at one or more regional facilities, reprocessing, or any other alternatives or combinations the commission determines to pursue.

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