DOE states reheat nuclear waste debate

After decades of struggling with the issue, Congress in late 1982 established a firm plan for burying growing volumes of nuclear reactor wastes. But 2 l/2 years later the waste disposal debate is as hot as ever. Utility companies, environmentalists, federal officials, and state governments are again clashing - this time over the way the program is proceeding. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act calls for the Department of Energy to start accepting wastes in 1998 at the first of two planned repositories. Selection of this first repository site was mandated for early 1987, but program delays at DOE have pushed the decision back to March 1991. Despite this postponement and other schedule slips, the Department still aims to meet Congress's 1998 deadline. But states, Indian tribes, and environmentalists fear the site selection process will be compromised and want the start up date rolled back