Chat with Chic, August 16, 1985

Chat with Chic A Report from Washington August 16, 1985 By U.S. Senator Chic Hecht Earlier this year as many of you might recall, I was named by a Capitol Hill newspaper as the most conservative senator in the United States Senate. And, quite frankly, I was more than pleased to have that conservatism recognized. Consequently, it seemed a little strange to me the other day to find myself lined up on an issue ? currently highly controversial in Nevada ? with none other than Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, certainly one of those on the other side of the political spectrum. He and I are seldom in such agreement. However, we found ourselves aligned, as co-sponsors, on a bill sponsored principally by Senator Thurmond of South Carolina ? the Low Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act Amendments of 1985. In a nutshell, the bill guarantees nationwide access through 1992 to low-level waste sites currently existing in Nevada, South Carolina and Washington. But after that time, each of the states would have to establish their own dump or join with neighboring states in such a project. "Low-Level" waste comes from technology that produces radioactive materials such as nuclear medicine, products with radioactive isotopes and x-ray equipment. Hospitals all over the country, as an example, are contributors to such waste materials. CHAT WITH CHIC, PAGE 2 The Thurmond bill, I feel, will provide reasonable management to this problem. Although Congress, in 1980, attempted to deal with this situation, most states have not responded as hoped. Consequently, the three states which include Nevada have continued to bear the full national burden of low-level nuclear waste disposal. In remarks I inserted in the Congressional Record, I said it was "my hope that this bill will finally lay to rest the conflict and concern that has plagued this issue, and will lay the groundwork for the nation to focus instead on how to best use nuclear technology to help build a safe and prosperous future." Senator Kennedy, incidentally, called the bill a "breakthrough on one of the most technically complicated and politically difficult issues before the 99th Congress." He said the bill offered a "non-partisan consensus proposal to avert an imminent problem over disposal of low-level radioactive waste". The measure, he indicated, was both "rational and workable" in that it accomodated needs of his state for the next few years "while bolstering on-going efforts to develop our own alternatives." Low-level waste disposal, high-level waste disposal, wilderness designations, land and air withdrawals are problems facing us today, at home and in Washington. Consequently, I look forward to discussing these issues, and others, when I travel around Nevada later this month and the first part of the next month during my third annual "Chat with Chic" tour of our state. The trip, starting August 2 6 in Las Vegas and ending in Reno September 3 after 1,500 miles in two vans, is taxing, but worthwhile and rewarding. It's the best way I know of keeping in touch with Nevadans and I'm looking forward to it.