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“YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY SITE APPROVAL ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E806 on May 15, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY SITE APPROVAL ACT
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speech of
HON. PHILIP M. CRANE
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take this opportunity to express my full support for House Joint Resolution 87, approving Yucca Mountain as a repository for storage of high-level spent nuclear fuel. It is important to remember that over half the population of this nation lives within 75 miles of a temporary nuclear waste facility and that Illinois is one of the states most dependent on nuclear power. Close to my home in Illinois is the Zion nuclear power plant, though the plant itself is no longer operational, nuclear fuel remains in temporary storage there. The people living near by are anxiously awaiting the Federal Government to fulfill its promise to take possession, and dispose of this material.
In the 37 years that government and private industry has transported nuclear waste, there have been only 4 rail accidents and 4 highway accidents. That represents a 99.7 percent success rate. It also represents 2,700 shipments of 10,000 spent fuel assemblies over a distance of more than 1.6 million miles. It is important to remember also that the states will be actively involved in the rout selection process, there will be no shipments through down town Chicago.
The containers, in which the spent fuel is stored, are quite capable of withstanding a broadside from a locomotive traveling 60 mph, tests have been conducted that prove this. The trucks and trains carrying this spent fuel are accompanied by at least one escort, which must report to the Department of Energy (DOE) every two hours and are continuously monitored and tracked by satellite. This is just the smallest part of the safety precautions being taken by the DOE, the NRC and state and local first responder's nation wide.
After twenty years of spending $8 billion of the taxpayers money the Department of Energy has determined it is safe to store spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain. That being the case, it is high time the Federal Government keeps its long-standing commitment to citizens and utility companies by taking possession of these materials. Passage, by the House, of H.J. Res. 87 is a big step in that direction.
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