Floor speech transcript, Transmutation Proposal, May 5, 1999 (2 pages)

MAY 5, 1999 FLOOR SPEECH, TRANSMUTATION PROPOSAL Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer an amendment to H.R. 1655, the Department of Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization act. This amendment is intended to help America harness the brain power of top scientists in a quest to solve one of the great technological challenges facing our nation?neutralizing, not merely storing, high level nuclear waste. I thank the Chairman of the Science Committee and the Ranking Member of the Committee for their support of this amendment. I am certain that my colleagues in this chamber are well aware of my views on the proposed plan to bury nuclear waste in my state, Nevada. I am adamantly opposed to it. I am not here today to debate the Yucca Mountain project. Rather, I offer a proposal that I hope will capture your imagination....whether you oppose or support the Yucca Mountain project. Billions of dollars are being spent studying how to store high level nuclear waste because...it is deadly. But no matter where you put it, it is deadly. ...and the United States and the rest of the world have produced hundreds of thousands of tons of it. Even if we build a repository, within a few years it will be above capacity. We would have to build another multibillion dollar facility...and another...and another as the next century unfolds. And, there would still be thousands of tons of waste at the reactor sites across the country. All of this waste is just as toxic as the day it was generated....even if it were generated 40 or 50 years ago, it is still just as toxic. It takes a quarter million years to fully neutralize. The scientists who unlocked the power of the atom in the 1940's knew about the problem. And the federal government knew. But with no solution immediately at hand, they simply put their trust in science itself...believing that a process would be invented to neutralize high level waste. And that seemed reasonable. After all, the Manhattan Project?in a span of only a few years?had taken the theories of Einstein from the theoretical stage to actually unleashing nuclear power. It was believed that resources would be applied to find a technology to neutralize the radioactive waste. Today, we have a tremendous nuclear waste challenge. Our response...so far...has been to dig a hole, pour some concrete, and put it under ground. It defies common sense to think that in 10, 20, or 30 thousand years-or more-that we can guarantee there will be no leaks. I don't think that's what the scientists had in mind when they uncorked the nuclear genie in the 1940's. I urge your support of my amendment to H.R. 1655. The time is overdue to accept the responsibility of finding a technological solution to nuclear waste?ridding the nation of this threat. I propose an amendment to H.R. 1655 to establish a nuclear waste transmutation research and development program. The goal is to develop the technology we need to transmute nuclear waste...right at the reactor sites. Transmutation is a process which turns radioactive waste into non-radioactive substances. This amendment fully complies with environmental and nuclear non-proliferation policies. It prohibits development of technology that could isolate plutonium and uranium . This amendment instructs the secretary of energy to commence a program of research and development. And it authorizes the Secretary to award grants or contracts to industry and universities. $2 million is allocated in fiscal 2000 and $4 million is allocated in fiscal 2001. Transmutation currently exists in theory. Similarly, all of the great breakthroughs of the 20th Century existed in theory until resources were applied to develop new technologies. Radio, television, semi-conductors, nuclear power, modern pharmaceuticals, and space travel-to name a few-once existed only in theory. Some of these advances came with stunning swiftness once scientists were put to work. President Kennedy issued the challenge to put an American on the moon within a decade...we got there in eight and a half years. While an amendment to develop nuclear transmutation is a modest proposal compared to the public/private partnerships that have transformed our world, I nonetheless urge you to vote for this amendment to h.r. 1655....in the spirit of the American "can-do" attitude that sparked the marvels of the last half century. I urge you to vote for this amendment and set us on a course to solve the problem of nuclear waste once and for all...so we do not leave a deadly legacy for future generations." ###