CONGRESS TO HOLD HEARINGS ON BLUE RIBBON PANEL REPORT

In a set of hearings this week, the House and Senate will delve into the nuclear waste disposal recommendations included in last week’s final report from the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. A House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. will be followed by a Thursday hearing at 9:30 a.m. in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Both hearings will feature testimony from the Blue Ribbon panel’s co-chairmen, former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. The waste panel, formed to evaluate disposal options in the wake of the Yucca Mountain shutdown, called for prompt legislative action from Congress given the lack of a nuclear waste program. However, the House Committee has been highly critical of the Department of Energy’s decisions related to Yucca Mountain. Its hearing will also feature several witnesses with links to the repository, including Lake Barrett, former head of the Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain Program, Martin Malsch, attorney for Nevada on repository-related matters, and David Wright of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, which is part of a Yucca-related legal challenge.