Group Would Study Alternatives to Yucca
March 11, 2009 Las Vegas Review - Journal - Sen. Harry Reid said Monday he is working to form a study group
to come up with alternatives to burying nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.
"I am going to have a blue-ribbon panel to take a look at that,"
the Nevada Democrat said in a meeting with reporters.
He did not give details other than he expected the group would be
given a year to report its findings.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu in recent appearances has endorsed
the idea of forming a commission to take stock of the nation's nuclear
waste management practices. President Barack Obama has declared he
opposes storing radioactive material at Yucca Mountain but has not
advanced any alternatives.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the government relations arm of the
nuclear industry, also has suggested a commission as a way to form a
"Plan B" if Obama follows through on his policy.
Other possible ideas "haven't been studied at all; that is one of
the problems," Reid said.
The Obama administration in documents last month said the
president's 2010 budget to Congress will contain funding to keep a
Yucca Mountain construction application alive before the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission but otherwise will "devise a new strategy
towards nuclear waste disposal."
to come up with alternatives to burying nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.
"I am going to have a blue-ribbon panel to take a look at that,"
the Nevada Democrat said in a meeting with reporters.
He did not give details other than he expected the group would be
given a year to report its findings.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu in recent appearances has endorsed
the idea of forming a commission to take stock of the nation's nuclear
waste management practices. President Barack Obama has declared he
opposes storing radioactive material at Yucca Mountain but has not
advanced any alternatives.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the government relations arm of the
nuclear industry, also has suggested a commission as a way to form a
"Plan B" if Obama follows through on his policy.
Other possible ideas "haven't been studied at all; that is one of
the problems," Reid said.
The Obama administration in documents last month said the
president's 2010 budget to Congress will contain funding to keep a
Yucca Mountain construction application alive before the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission but otherwise will "devise a new strategy
towards nuclear waste disposal."