Nuclear Waste:  Senate Committee Approves Yucca Mountain

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday narrowly approved Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site of the first long-term U.S. nuclear waste repository (see GSN, May 24).

The committee voted 13-10 to support a joint resolution to override Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn’s veto of the site.  Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Senators Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) voted against the rest of the committee’s Democrats to support the override resolution, according to committee spokesman Bill Wicker.  Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) bucked his party to oppose the resolution, Wicker said.

Last month, the full House of Representatives voted 306-117 in favor of the resolution (see GSN, May 9).  To override the veto and maintain Yucca Mountain as the site of the repository, both houses of Congress must approve the joint resolution within 90 days of Guinn’s veto.  While no date has yet been set for a full Senate vote on the resolution, it must occur before July 25, Wicker said (see GSN, March 29).

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday praised the committee for its support of Yucca Mountain, saying it indicates the bipartisan support needed to proceed with the repository project.

“The Energy Committee’s bipartisan vote is an important step toward enhancing our national security and environmental protections,” Abraham said in a press release.

The U.S. nuclear energy industry, a major supporter of the Yucca Mountain project, also praised the committee for its vote and called on the full Senate to approve the override resolution.

“Today’s positive vote on Yucca Mountain suitability is another welcome display of energy and environmental leadership by members of Congress,” said Joe Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the main lobbying group of the nuclear industry.  “We urge the full Senate to join the House, the scientific community and a bipartisan cadre of governors, state legislators, mayors and other local officials across the nation who have endorsed the Yucca Mountain repository program.”

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, however, criticized the committee’s support of the Yucca Mountain project, saying there is little scientific backing for the repository.

“We urge the Senate to reject this ill-conceived project and to vote against the measure on the floor,” the group’s staff attorney Pierre Sadik said in a press statement.  “This is neither sound science nor sound policy — this is simply hoping that Americans are soundly asleep as the nuclear industry tries to pass this through Congress.”

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Radiological Weapons:  Investigators Seeking Cesium Suspect

Investigators in Europe are searching for a German national believed to have been involved in an attempt to purchase stolen radioactive materials in Lithuania, the London Guardian reported Saturday (see GSN, June 3).

Authorities arrested six Lithuanian men last week in Vilnius with possession of 1 kilogram of cesium-137.  The men had obtained the material in another former Soviet republic and brought it to the Lithuanian Institute of Physics in Vilnius to learn its value, according to the Guardian.  The sale to the German national — who is believed to be linked to organized crime — was then to be arranged, but the person fled after the six Lithuanians were arrested, the Guardian reported.

Investigators believe that the German wanted to purchase the cesium-137 to sell it on the Western black market, according to the Guardian.

“There are now close contacts between German and Lithuanian organized criminals,” said a Vilnius police spokeswoman.  “This is the first time we have found such metals on sale here.  This sort of metal is sold on the black market mostly for weapons, and we presume it came from Russia or Belarus” (Nick Paton Walsh, London Guardian, June 1).

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Radiological Weapons:  Senate Considers Protecting Non-U.S. Materials

By Kerry Boyd
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — On track with recent U.S.-Russian efforts to address risks posed by radiological materials, U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan (D-Mo.) recently proposed studying how the United States can help secure such materials around the world (see GSN, May 10).

In an effort to decrease the risk of terrorists acquiring nuclear and radiological materials, Carnahan introduced the Global Nuclear Security Act May 7, according to a press release.  The bill has been referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, and no hearings have been scheduled yet, a committee spokeswoman said yesterday.

The legislation would require the Energy Department to study the “feasibility and advisability” of developing a program to protect radiological materials outside the United States and report its findings to Congress within one year (see GSN, June 3).  The bill would also require the department to report within nine months whether the United States should take steps to reduce risks related to terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants in countries other than the United States (see GSN, May 28).

In addition, the bill would call on the Energy, State and Defense departments to develop a program for encouraging countries to follow International Atomic Energy Agency standards — or equivalent standards — for protecting nuclear materials, and to implement security measures to guard materials against theft or attack.

Steve LaMontagne of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation expressed support for the legislation yesterday, saying it recognizes that countries must address the threat of terrorists using radiological materials or attacking nuclear power plants.  He noted, however, that the bill would not fund any new programs and said reports must be followed with action.

The bill provides a reasonable amount of time for preparing the reports, he said, but added that every second used to study a threat and formulate a response is time that could also be used to take action.

For further information, see:

U.S. State Department Fact Sheet on Nonproliferation Programs in Russia (May 24, 2002)

International Atomic Energy Agency

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Radiological Weapons:  Officials Recover Black Market Cesium-137

Lithuanian authorities have recovered a kilogram of cesium-137 in Vilnius, Interfax reported Thursday (see GSN, March 19). Police captured six Lithuanian men in connection with the incident and are searching for a foreigner also believed to have been involved, according to Interfax.  With an estimated value of $125,000, the radioactive material probably would have been sold on the black market, the Lithuanian Interior Ministry’s press service said (Interfax, May 30 in FBIS-SOV, May 30).

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