Senate Energy Committee approves dangerous resolution

The Senate Energy Committee voted yesterday to approve a “Sense of the Congress Regarding the Strategic Role of Nuclear Energy.” But local critics of nuclear power say it is more non-sense than sense; and it could lay the groundwork to turn Illinois into a de facto high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) storage dump for the region.

There is nothing sensible about this vote. We have written Senators Durbin and Burris asking them to reject this document – which could turn Illinois into the de facto Yucca Mt. of the Great Lakes.

The seven-page document has two main features: one which declares that Congress finds that nuclear power is essential for our energy future and to fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; the other calling for research into reprocessing of spent nuclear reactor fuel, and creating regional centralized HLRW storage sites until such time as the federal government builds an acceptable, safe and permanent disposal site for the HLRW. The Obama Administration recently terminated funding for the flawed proposed Yucca Mt. site in Nevada, leaving the US with no active disposal options.

It is breathtaking – and quite alarming -- how many errors and unsubstantiated assertions the Senators were able to assemble in so little space in support of nuclear energy. The document pulls fabricated ”findings” out of thin air about nuclear power’s ability to influence greenhouse gas emissions and the wishful thinking about dangerous reactor fuel reprocessing. NEIS has sent a detailed critique of these largely unsubstantiated highly contestable ‘findings’ to both Illinois Senators.

What concerns NEIS the most though is how this lofty-sounding yet totally empty rhetoric begins to position Illinois as a future location for the centralized storage of High Level Radioactive Waste. The Sense of Congress calls for the establishment of centralized spent fuel and HLRW storage facilities. Because Illinois is centrally located, has great rail capacity, and already has a huge volume of HLRW, it would stand out as a front runner in the selection process, to minimize the amounts of waste transported for storage.

Illinois would not only have to shoulder the burden for the HLRW Exelon’s reactors have generated; it would likely have to safeguard thousands of tons of HLRW coming from other states and nuclear utilities. We already have expressed deep concerns for the nearness of reactors and HLRW pools to O’Hare Field post-911. Adopting this Sense of Congress would in effect make Illinois a de facto Yucca Mt – and the way Congress works – indefinitely.

Our Critique of the Sense of Congress

Comments on the Critique

Our Letter to Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris

Our press release on this matter.