Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Domenici Backs Call for Nonproliferation

By Tania Soussan
Journal Staff Writer

    An international effort— involving everyone from Russia and other countries to New Mexico labs and technology companies— is needed to deal with the spread of weapons of mass destruction, Sen. Pete Domenici said Monday.

    Evidence shows nuclear weapons technology has spread from Pakistan to several Third World countries, Domenici, R-N.M., said in a speech to the Rotary Club of Albuquerque.

    President Bush last week proposed strengthening international nonproliferation efforts, something Domenici called for in a speech on the Senate floor last December.

    "That shouldn't just go unnoticed as a little thing," he said of Bush's proposal. "It is a gigantic event."

    Domenici said New Mexico scientists at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories and at private companies like Stolar Research Corp. of Raton and Aquila/Canberra of Albuquerque play a role in responding to the weapons threat.

    "This is tough work," he said, adding that it will be expensive.

Domenici also said resolving nuclear nonproliferation is a necessary step in the development of nuclear energy, something he believes will be needed in the future.

    The senator also touched on other energy issues, stating his support of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's plan to guide oil and gas drilling on Otero Mesa in southern New Mexico.

    Environmentalists think the plan fails to protect the fragile grasslands there, and drillers think the restrictions are too tough.

    Domenici said natural gas is vital to the country's future and added: "We've reached a point in history where we can drill for wells without hurting anything."

    Directional drilling leaves "a footprint that's mighty small" while allowing developers to send several wells out for miles from one spot, he said.

    Domenici is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the main architect of a broad energy bill now before the Senate.