MCKEON SEEKS VETO OF BILL ON NUCLEAR WASTE FACILITY.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Fearing rail shipments of thousands of tons of nuclear waste through the Antelope Valley, Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, called for a presidential veto of a bill allowing the creation of an interim nuclear waste disposal facility in Nevada.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow for the creation of an ``early acceptance facility'' for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. The bill would permit nuclear waste to be shipped to the site as early as 2007.

The bill, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act, was approved 253-167, which is insufficient to override a presidential veto.

``I recognize the importance of finding a permanent solution to the problem of nuclear waste,'' McKeon said Wednesday. ``However, I am concerned that my district would bear a disproportionate risk of damage posed by transporting nuclear waste to Nevada.''

The bill, approved last month by the Senate, now goes to the White House. The president has voiced opposition to the bill because it raises questions about the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to establish radiation standards for a permanent waste disposal facility.

Under the legislation, the EPA would have to consult with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Academy of Sciences if it wanted to issue the standards before June 1, 2001. The NRC has suggested less stringent standards than the EPA is considering for the Yucca Mountain site.

Supporters of the legislation argued that the government has a legal obligation to take more than 40,000 tons of highly radioactive used reactor fuel now kept at commercial reactors in 31 states. Potential transportation routes from California reactors include railroad lines through the Antelope Valley.

For six years, Congress has struggled over the buildup of used reactor fuel - waste that will remain highly radioactive for 10,000 years - at 71 reactor sites around the country. Some utilities contend they are running out of storage room while electricity users have contributed $13 billion into a federal waste fund.

The bill would open the way for waste shipments to begin once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues a license for the Yucca Mountain permanent waste site in the Nevada desert.

The proposed facility remains under scientific review, but is scheduled to be opened in 2010 if found technically suitable. The NRC is expected to decide in 2006 whether to give it a license.