Welcome to the CSG Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee Update. Below are links and summaries of several important happenings from the last few weeks. Please don't hesitate to contact Lisa (920/458-5910) or Sarah (630/925-1922) with any questions or concerns about any of these issues.

A, O, Way to Go, Ohio

On November 27-29, members of the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee will descend on Columbus for the fall 2007 committee meeting. Lisa and Sarah are making the final preparations for the meeting and the tour of of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In preparation for the meeting, please watch out for briefing materials, which will be sent tomorrow. Contained in the briefing materials are the documents the committee will need to discuss at the meeting, so please don't forget to bring it with you. Additional copies will not be available onsite. All briefing materials will also be posted on the committee website. If you have any questions about the meeting or the briefing materials, please contact Lisa or Sarah.

Click here for the meeting website, including briefing materials.

Click here for information about Columbus.

Boxer Takes the Gloves Off. No Need to Reid Between the Lines

On October 31, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by California Sen. Barbara Boxer, held a hearing on Yucca Mountain. The hearing was requested by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in response to increasing criticism of the project. The hearing was supposed to be limited to the safety of the site itself, but several times the conversation was pulled into a discussion on spent fuel disposal and nuclear energy in general. The witnesses included DOE, the NRC, the EPA, the State of Nevada, and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Senators Boxer, Clinton and Reid were critical of the project, while Senators Craig, Inhofe and DeMint were supportive of the project.

Tomorrow the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, will hold a hearing on the future of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program. GNEP is a spent fuel recycling program introduced by President Bush several years ago. The program intends to eventually accept spent fuel from foreign countries for recycling, as well as fuel from domestic reactors. Congress has been reluctant to fund the program at the requested level, citing the long lead time needed to develop the program and lack of confidence in science behind the recycling process. Portsmouth, OH and Morris, IL are among the sites being considered for the recycling facilities. The witness list includes DOE, scientists and budget experts.

On Thursday, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the future of uranium enrichment clean-up activities. The funding for these activities is provided by the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund, which is up for reauthorization. If reauthorized, funding for the decommissioning of three gaseous diffusion plants would continue for 10 more years. One of the plants is located in Portsmouth, Ohio, and our Midwestern committee will tour it as part of the fall 2007 committee meeting. Witnesses for this hearing include DOE, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and budget experts.

Click here for information about the Yucca Mountain hearing. A webcast of the hearing is also available on this site.

Click here for information about the GNEP hearing.

Click here for information about the uranium enrichment clean-up hearing.

Welcome Sen. Koch

It's official! Late last month, Midwestern Legislative Conference Chair Sen. Patty Birkholz appointed Minnesota Sen. Amy Koch to the committee. Sen. Koch (pronounced "Coke") is the ninth legislator appointed to the committee. The Monticello nuclear plant is in Sen. Koch's district and she serves on the Senate's Transportation Committee, as well as the Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee. Please join us in welcoming Sen. Koch to the committee!

Click here for an updated committee roster.

Click here for Sen. Koch's Senate web page.

Thanks for reading! We'll take a short hiatus because of the upcoming committee meeting. Look for the next issue in December!

Sincerely,
Lisa Janairo and Sarah Wochos
Committee Staff