Yucca Mountain News Clips<br>
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
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Las Vegas SUN
April 15, 2003

Berkley addresses Nevada lawmakers

By RYAN PEARSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley spelled out her support for President Bush's foreign policy and opposition to his domestic agenda in a speech Tuesday to Nevada lawmakers.

Saying she opposed new tax cuts and the administration's energy plan, the three-term Nevada Democrat also reiterated her backing of the U.S.-led war against Iraq and called Syria a "rogue nation."

She noted the importance of Bush's "road map" proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which has not yet been formally unveiled.

"I do not think there can be peace in the world and an end to terrorism if we do not solve the Middle East," Berkeley said, adding that she supports Bush's call for a Palestinian state.

"I believe that the Israelis are entitled to a peaceful existence within their borders ... and the Palestinian people are entitled to a homeland of their own."

Speaking for about 30 minutes without a prepared script, the congresswoman and former state assemblywoman from Las Vegas moved rapidly from talk of highways to veterans to education.

Lawmakers applauded loudly as Berkley outlined her disgust at the Bush administration's energy plan. She said it would increase spending on nuclear power and mean more radioactive waste in Nevada.

"We don't want it, we don't need it. This is 20th century technology in a 21st century world," she said. "Certainly there's a better way of providing for our energy needs and not spending it in a hole in the Nevada desert."

The government hopes to bury high-level nuclear waste in the desert northwest of Las Vegas at Yucca Mountain, a plan Nevada's federal lawmakers have vehemently opposed.

Berkley, who voted for a $1.3 billion federal tax cut in 2001, said she was opposed to new cuts now making their way through Congress because of the strains of war spending and upcoming Social Security needs.

She also praised Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, saying he was being "extremely courageous" in addressing the "daunting" challenges facing cash-strapped Nevada. Guinn has proposed a record $1 billion tax increase for the state.

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Salt Lake Tribune
April 16, 2003

Republicans Fire Up Nuclear Power Issue

By Doug Abrahms
Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans want to promote construction of the next generation of nuclear power plants by promising potentially billions of dollars for research and development of projects.

While earlier nuclear-power battles were fought over safety and environmental issues, today's debate is focusing on economics.

"In the current environment of soaring prices, unstable supply and the debate about climate change, nuclear energy will provide affordable, clean and reliable power with no airborne emissions," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I consider it a cornerstone of our energy future."

But even with substantial help from Congress, power companies say the economy isn't right for building nuclear plants.

Today, 103 operating nuclear power plants provide 21 percent of U.S. electricity, according to the Energy Department. But no commercial generator has been ordered by a utility since the early 1980s -- in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island reactor malfunction that caused a release of radioactive gas in 1979.

To spur the industry into building more nuclear generators:

* The House passed a bill that would offer $1.7 billion over the next four years for nuclear research and development and expand government insurance to new power plants in case of catastrophes.

* The Senate energy committee adopted a measure to spend $1.1 billion to build a next-generation nuclear power plant at a government facility in Idaho that could also produce hydrogen for fuel cells.

An attempt to strip out the loan provisions from the Senate bill was defeated on a near party-line vote.

Since Republicans control Congress, an energy bill with the nuclear provisions is expected to pass and be signed into law by President Bush, whose energy task force called for a substantial increase in nuclear power plants.

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State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
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