Abraham got thousands from nuke biz
Energy secretary: 'Sound science' drove Nevada choice
By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:19 PM ET Jan. 11, 2002
LAS VEGAS (CBS.MW) -- Although Enron's large contributions to key legislators
and members of the Bush administration apparently were not enough to pull its financial fat out
of the fire, one group of major energy-business political donors just hit the jackpot.
While it will be at least a decade -- if then -- before radioactive waste begins pouring
into Nevada's Yucca Mountain, the Department of Energy's decision to recommend the site
is a big victory for the nuclear power industry.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Thursday he plans
to formally recommend the Silver State site as a new federal
repository for nuclear waste -- delighting plant operators and
infuriating Nevada businesses, politicians and
environmentalists. See story
Transporting all of its radioactive byproducts to one central
location and storing it there -- both at taxpayer expense --
has long been at the top of the nuclear industry's wish list.
Currently, most nuclear waste generated from commercial
plants is stored on-site, a cost shouldered by the operators.
The Nuclear Energy Institute wasted no time in hailing
Abraham's decision: "Safely transporting nuclear waste from
35 states to one secure, specifically designed federal
disposal facility underground is the best solution to protect
our environment and our national security," said Joe Colvin,
president of the trade group.
Companies backed Senate bid
Abraham received thousands of dollars in contributions from
the industry in his campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate
from Michigan in 2000. In addition to NEI's $4,000, private
nuclear-plant operators DTE Energy (DTE: news, chart, profile), with $5,000, Exelon
(EXC: news, chart, profile), at $2,000, Constellation (CEG: news, chart, profile), $2,000, and FirstEnergy (FE: news, chart,
profile), also $2,000, ponied up for his failed bid.
Abraham also accepted at least $9,500 from energy-trading company
ENRON between February of 1999 and October 2000.
Although Attorney General John Ashcroft recently recused himself from involvement
in the criminal probe of Enron because he had accepted over $50,000 of the company's money
in the past, Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Department of Energy, insisted that Abraham
has no such conflict.
Abraham based his decision solely on "sound science and compelling interests [of] national
security and environmental protection," he said.
While the nuclear industry has given to both major parties, the GOP has long received the
lion's share of the booty. For instance, the Center for Responsive Politics said that in the last
election cycle Republican candidates got more than two-thirds of the $335,000 given by NEI
and nearly three quarters of $819,000 contributed by leading nuclear operator Exelon.
The next call in the ongoing battle will be made by the White House, which is on record as
being in favor of both expanded nuclear power and the establishment of a central repository for nuclear waste.
If, as expected, the Bush administration approves the site, Nevada's governor or state legislature
gets a chance to veto the decision, which will stop the project until and unless Congress overrides it.
Furious members of the state's congressional delegation, including
Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, have vowed to do whatever it takes to keep the
Yucca from opening. And, even should they fail, Nevada
Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, has vowed a court battle.
William Spain is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Chicago.
cbs.marketwatch.com |
