SENATE BILL REPORT

                                   HJM 4016

         AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON ENERGY & UTILITIES, APRIL 5, 1991

Brief Description:  Requesting that Hanford be acknowledged as a national research and development center.

SPONSORS:Representatives Ludwig, May, Bray, Moyer, Rayburn, Grant, Lisk, Neher, Edmondson, Orr, Jacobsen, Nealey, Paris, Chandler, Betrozoff and Miller.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY & UTILITIES

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY & UTILITIES

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Thorsness, Chairman; Saling, Vice Chairman; Jesernig, Nelson, Patterson, Roach, Stratton, Sutherland, and Williams. 

Staff:  Phil Moeller (786‑7445)

Hearing Dates:April 4, 1991; April 5, 1991

BACKGROUND:

The recently concluded 45-year defense materials production mission at Hanford left a resource of human scientific and technical talent.

The talent availability, the pressing national need both to restore the Hanford Reservation environmentally and to develop new hazardous and radioactive waste management technology, and the regional need to replace the production mission all come together to impel new scientific and technical activity on the Hanford Reservation.

Sites are being considered, but are not yet selected, for certain high technology projects that are ideally suited to the Hanford Reservation.

SUMMARY:

The Congress, the President, the Secretary of the Department of Energy, and the Director of the National Science Foundation are all asked to:  make Hanford the premier national scientific and technical research and development center for management of hazardous and radioactive waste, construct the engineering test model of the Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage System, maintain the Fast Flux Test Facility in operation, and locate the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, all at Hanford.

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  none requested

TESTIMONY FOR:

These projects are important scientifically and Congress should fund their development at Hanford.

TESTIMONY AGAINST:  None

TESTIFIED:  Representative Ludwig, prime sponsor (pro); Raymond E. Isaacson, Benton County (pro)