By Joel Gallob Of the News-Times

Even though the administration's energy plan expressly includes a
resumption of building and bringing online nuclear power plants, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) does not think it will get anywhere. "I think Wall Street will nix it," he told some 40 county residents at a Town Hall held recently at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

Tom Cropper asked Wyden his view about President Bush's plan to "start up nuclear power generators, and to produce more nuclear bombs, and also cut back on the Hanford cleanup."

Wyden replied the business community appeared uninterested in nuclear power, in large part because of the widespread rejection it faces and in part because "people like me will stop any Senate effort to subsidize it.
Until we deal with nuclear wastes," he said, "it's a non-starter."

Instead, Wyden noted, he is "trying to find out which companies are
exporting oil" found in the United States. "We import 10 million barrels per day," he said, and we export one million barrels per day. I'm trying to force the Commerce Department to identify which companies are exporting oil, and Commerce is basically covering up for them," Wyden said. "They
won't make the information available. It's outrageous, exporting a million barrels of oil a day when gas is $2.53 in Newport."

Wyden added he has been working with the two senators from Washington state (Patty Murray and Maria Cantrell, both Democrats) "to keep Hanford funds from being cut, but it's a battle with the administration every step
of the way. It's very important to our state," he said, even though the massive Hanford waste site is across the Columbia River in Washington.

"Bush proposes to cut (the cleanup funds) but how much is the question? He's got so many bells and whistles," Wyden said, "which Washington and Oregon State energy officials feel can be cut."

But, said Wyden, he would seek to assure funding for the actual cleanup is not reduced.

Wyden urges end to dredging struggle

Don Mann, the Port of Newport's general manager, asked Senator Wyden last week if the Senate could "bust the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund" and establish "a bill of rights" for the coast's small ports.

Each year for the past several years, the president has zeroed out funding for the dredging of the small Northwest ports, and each year the Northwest congressional delegation has gotten the funds reinserted into the budget.

A change in that annual struggle, said Wyden "will not happen until you put together a coalition" of the coastal ports and their supporters. "I'll try to make sure every year that we'll get you the money for dredging," Wyden told Mann, "but without a real coalition of ports across the country, it'll be tough. We'll keep working with you and your colleagues,"
he promised.

http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2005/05/11/news/news12.txt