Proposed Yucca Mountain Actions (3 pages)

Proposed Yucca Mountain Actions General Yucca Mountain Project SB Actions 1) Briefing Book - send to colleagues 2) Dear Colleague Letters - send 10 themed colleagues to members. 3) Floor Speeches - deliver regular purposeful floor speeches on aspects of YMP 4) FOIA requests Robert Card Investigation Follow up on letter and Tom Hamberger article 1) call for a hearing 2) evaluate response to letter from DOE 3) send relevant materials to frank silbey and torn hamburger Tow Missile Test SB Actions 1) Follow up on getting a copy of nuke canister tape from Aberdeen - call George Mercer 410-278-1147/Linda Worthington 410-278-4442 2) talk to CRS about doing some munitions research Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board SB Actions 1) ask the board to estimate the money, time, etc. to get the DOE to go from weak to strong - letter Cost Issues Potential SB Actions (***all action awaiting the findings of the CRS cost report***) 1) Additional Cost Analysis - request that the GAO do a complete cost estimate. Maybe have the CRS start. Include a cost estimate of additional on-site storage of nuclear waste. Talk to Anna about the green scissors report 2) DOE's Inaccurate Baseline - depending on DOE's written comments, consider demanding that the DOE use a more realistic baseline via appropriations *** DOE stopped using the official baseline to manage the site investigation in 1997 "DOE to reestablish a management system and rebaseline the Yucca Mountain Project, in accordance with the Department's existing policy for major systems and projects" 3) Budget Meetings - meet with key budget leaders (visclosky, spratt, leadership) A) meet with Visclosky regarding Yucca budget and Environmental Management Budget the NRC adopt the NWTRB's position. Superfund Site Potential SB Actions (early January) 1) EPA Ombudsman - write a letter to the ombudsman asking them to look into the superfund issue. Get some direction from Mr. Martin. 2) EPA Letter - follow up on response 3) DOE Letter - follow up on response Markev AntiTerrorism Bill Potential SB Actions (immediate) 1) Cosponsorships - send out a joint dear colleague letter requesting additional cosps. Berkley AntiTerrorism Bill Potential SB Actions (immediate) 1) Cosponsorships - send out a joint dear colleague letter requesting additional cosps. Winston and Strawn (IG Report) Delegation Effort 1) Conflict of Interest - make a formal complaint with illinois state bar 2) Scientific Review Panel - Establish a special panel regarding potential bias Potential SB Actions (awaiting final GAO Report) 1) DC Bar Complaint - send a second letter to the dc bar following up on our original complaint. A copy of the GAO Report and affidavit should be attached. Cost Issues Delegation Effort 1) Costs Analysis - Senator Reid is commissioning a CRS report analyzing theYMP Potential SB Actions (***all action awaiting the findings of the CRS cost report***) 1) Additional Cost Analysis - request additional cost estimates depending on CRS results (GAO, OMB, CBO, DOE, Taxpayer Groups, Environmental Groups). Include a cost estimate of additional on-site storage of nuclear waste. 2) DOE's Inaccurate Baseline - depending on DOE's written comments, consider writing a letter demanding that the DOE use a more realistic baseline *** DOE stopped using the official baseline to manage the site investigation in 1997 3) Budget Meetings - meet with key budget leaders (visclosky, spratt, leadership) Transportation/National Security Risks Potential SB Actions 1) follow up on the Mineta letter 2) brainstorm on transportation appropriations and authorizations 3) waxman and cummings have requested GAO tranportation group to study hazardous waste including nuclear waste. They have talked to NRC, FEMA and other agencies. Robert E. White 2-5463 4) send a letter to don young to use him on this. Mark Brown is a close friend of Young. Can we use him on a referral, - jurisdictional issues committee report, 5) work with appropriators to finalize transportation routes Floor Battle Preparation Potential SB Actions 1) get a written opinion 2) meet with the parliamentarian - can the 90 day limit be over ridden by the Parliamentarian Superfund Site Potential SB Actions 1) EPA Ombudsman - write a letter to the ombudsman asking them to look into the superfund issue. Get some direction from Mr. Martin. 2) EPA Letter - follow up on response 3) DOE Letter - follow up on response Winston and Strawn (IG Report) Potential SB Actions 1) Send a delegation letter to Illinois state bar copying material from the DC Bar complaint GAO Investigations Potential SB Actions (immediate) 1) Timeline Legal Issues - request a legal opinion regarding DOE's inability to finish on time or to apply for a license in time. We would first ask the CRS for an opinion. If positive, we could then ask the GAO for agreement. If both are positive, then we could announce to the press and give the opinions to DOE, DOE IG and DOJ. *** If president approves the site, the DOE must submit the license application to NRC within 90 days of the effective date of the approval. However, because DOE may have several years of technical work to do to support a license, it may not be ready to file an application with NRC within the statutory time limit. 2) Head off Barton's request analyzing nuclear security at reactor sites and how it would compare with Yucca Mountain A) talk to dwayne about the state's concerns