SEN. MURKOWSKI VISITS CARLSBAD, TOURS WIPP

Amid efforts in Carlsbad, N.M., to attract potential new nuclear waste missions, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) visited the city yesterday and toured the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Following her tour of the defense transuranic waste repository, Murkowski met with Carlsbad area officials to discuss the WIPP site and other nuclear waste issues. In addition to seeking increased funding for WIPP, local officials in Carlsbad are hoping to establish an interim storage site for nuclear waste and are exploring the possibility of developing a high level waste repository in the region’s salt deposits. Murkowski was in New Mexico campaigning for Senate candidate Heather Wilson. But as ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, she is also part of a group of Senators that have vowed to hold regular meetings this year on resolving nuclear waste issues, which includes Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and leaders on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee.