Despite the Obama administration's effort to halt plans to build a long-term nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, a 1987 amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act has required some work on the project to continue, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 8).
"The law will eventually have to be changed to completely kill Yucca. However there's no rush to do so until we have an alternative plan for dealing with nuclear waste in place," said a spokesman for Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has long opposed the planned storage site.
In February, Congress provided $288 million for Yucca Mountain, enabling several hundred staffers to continue planning the site. President Barack Obama requested $196.8 million for the project in fiscal 2010, which begins Oct. 1.
The Obama administration has opted to pursue a license for the Yucca Mountain site despite its intention to kill the project. The decision could potentially leave the door open for a future administration to resurrect the effort, according to AP.
In another move that could ultimately squelch the Yucca project, the administration yesterday announced the nomination of Reid associated Gregory Jaczko to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the body charged with deciding whether to license the site.
"The good news here is we're not in any emergency or crisis situation because our 104 reactor sites across the country have safely and securely managed fuel on site," said Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman John Keeley. "The fuel can stay there for 100 years" (Kathleen Hennessey, Associated Press/Google News, May 14).