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Washington in brief

Capital laser alert system bothered by cloudy skies

By wire services
Published May 25, 2005

WASHINGTON - A new system of lasers designed to warn pilots they have entered restricted airspace over Washington can't be used on planes flying in or above the clouds.

Trouble is, clouds cover most of the sky almost half the time in the nation's capital.

The limitations of the laser warning system were evident during an airspace violation Monday, when military F-16s escorted a small plane from a restricted area to a nearby airport.

The laser system wasn't engaged because it couldn't penetrate the layer of clouds over which the pilot was flying, said 1st Lt. Lisa Citino, a spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's no-fly list has shortcomings that could allow suspected terrorists and people with ties to terrorism to board U.S.-bound airplanes from overseas, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said.

Foreign and U.S. carriers departing for the United States are required to check each passenger's name against the no-fly list before takeoff, but some airlines say they sometimes do not have access to the most-up-to-date version.

Since September 2004, the United States has ordered seven international flights to alter course, forcing them either to divert to a designated airport or return to their departure site.

U.S. officials said they recognize the current system relies too heavily on the checks that airlines conduct. The airlines are not required to send their passenger manifests to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials until 15 minutes after the flight departs. As a result, U.S. officials do not complete their checks against all terrorist watch lists until the plane is in the air.

WASHINGTON - The House voted Tuesday to begin temporary storage of commercial nuclear waste at one or more federal facilities, fearing further delays in a proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

The directive was included in a $29.7-billion measure funding the Energy Department and came over the objections of lawmakers from Washington and South Carolina, two states where the waste from commercial power reactors might be located.

While the legislation leaves it up to the Energy Department to select one or more interim storage sites, a report accompanying the bill suggested the Energy Department's Savannah River weapons facility in South Carolina, the Hanford complex in Washington state and a facility in Idaho as possible locations. It also said the department should consider other federal sites, including closed defense bases for temporary storage.

It calls on the energy secretary to produce a plan for interim storage four months after the bill becomes law and begin accepting waste before the end of next year. The legislation must still be considered by Senate.

WASHINGTON - Private planes will be allowed to take off and land at Reagan National Airport for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, the Transportation Security Administration is expected to announce today, according to people in government and aviation who have seen the plan.

Congress has long been pressuring the TSA to reopen the airport to charter aircraft, business jets and private planes. It is far more convenient to downtown Washington than the other two airports in the region, Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

But the TSA has been reluctant to reopen Reagan National Airport to private aircraft because it's so close to the Capitol, the White House and other potential terrorist targets.

Information from the Associated Press and the Washington Post was used in this report.

[Last modified May 25, 2005, 00:41:07]