Platts - Thursday, October 14, 2004 
http://www.platts.com

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Domenici: Senate funding for nuclear exceeds House
levels

Washington (Platts)--13Oct2004

The Senate's funding levels for nuclear projects are
"well above" the levels in the House bill or the
administration's request, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)
said today. In a speech delivered by Pete Lyons, a
senior Domenici aide, to a Nuclear Energy Institute
conference in Ponte Verda, Fla., Domenici cited programs
such as Nuclear Power 2010, the Nuclear Energy Research
Initiative, Generation IV reactors, and the Advanced
Fuel Cycle Initiative as items that received the higher
funding in the draft bill, which has not been made
public. Domenici has the lead responsibility in the
Senate for appropriations for DOE's nuclear programs. In
the speech, Domenici also said he has "forcefully" told
DOE it should fund all three consortia that have applied
for construction and operating licenses for new plants;
only one of the three has received funding to date.

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Appeals court denies NEI motion

Washington (Platts)--12Oct2004

A federal requirement central to licensing a nuclear
waste repository will cease to exist Oct. 15,
potentially calling into question the DOE's ability to
submit a repository license application to NRC in
December as planned. The U.S. Court of Appeals in
Washington, D.C. denied Oct. 8 a Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) motion seeking to stay a court mandate
that threw out the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) 10,000-year regulatory period for a repository at
Yucca Mountain, Nev. on the grounds it was hundreds of
years too short to cover the peak radiation dose from
the facility. The court decision also means that the
10,000-year requirement in NRC's repository licensing
regulation, which by law must reflect the EPA standard,
will cease to exist Oct. 15. Given the court's decision,
NEI is reviewing its options, including whether to
proceed with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, NEI
spokesman Steve Kerekes said this afternoon. All
petitions seeking a Supreme Court review this term must
be filed with the court by Nov. 30.

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