House panel kills funds for US breeder reactor

A House panel voted to kill further funding for the Clinch River breeder reactor, handing the administration a major setback. The House Science and Technology Committee voted 22 to 18 against the administration-backed proposal to spend $254 million to develop the Tennessee-based commercial breeder reactor project in 1982. The $3 billion project, hailed by supporters as an important future energy provider, was opposed by House conservatives as a costly boondoggle.

The House move to cut the funds was seen as a challenge to Senate conservatives who have supported making the project an exception to the President's budget cuts.