United States Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D - Hawaii) received assurance from Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson that the Energy Department and the Clinton Administration will continue to oppose the development of an international nuclear waste storage facility on U.S. territories in the Pacific.

In a December 9, 1998, letter to the Secretary, Senator Akaka voiced opposition to a proposal submitted to the Energy Department by a commercial venture operating under the name of the Non-Proliferation Trust to establish a multinational spent fuel storage facility on Wake Island. Akaka led opposition in 1996 to a similar proposal from the same developers--a plan subsequently rejected by the Administration--to construct a spent fuel storage facility on Palmyra Atoll.

In his response to the Akaka inquiry, Secretary Richardson wrote, "I am concerned whether any Pacific island would be an acceptable site for a project of this kind, given widespread concerns about burdening the Pacific environment and the history of nuclear contamination in that region." The Energy Secretary also expressed his view that there is "no compelling reason at this time to urge the White House to reverse its stance opposing the development of an international spent fuel storage facility on a U.S. Pacific island."

"Despite widespread opposition in the Pacific region, the federal government continues to receive proposals from private developers to permit island storage of nuclear waste," Akaka noted. "Secretary Richardson's letter sends a clear message that U.S. islands in the Pacific are off the table when decisions are made about nuclear waste storage. Pacific islands continue to suffer from the era of atomic testing, and nuclear storage would only compound environmental problems."