Reid says more cuts ahead for Yucca Mountain
WASHINGTON (The Associated Press) - Jul 30 - By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press Writer
> Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Obama
> administration has assured him it will seek to eliminate funding for a
> review needed to open a nuclear waste repository below Nevada's Yucca
> Mountain.
>
> The money for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be
> eliminated for fiscal year 2011. The loss of the money would sap the
> agency of the resources necessary to review an Energy Department
> application seeking approval to construct the repository.
>
> President Barack Obama opposes the use of Yucca Mountain as a
> nuclear waste dump. Still, the 1987 law requiring that waste be stored
> at the site remains on the books, so the project could in theory be
> revived.
>
> The construction of a nuclear waste repository in Nevada is
> extremely unpopular with voters there and the state's lawmakers are
> eager to trumpet any progress they make in killing the project.
>
> "This is a major victory for Nevada," said Reid, a Democrat who
> is up for re-election next year. "I am pleased that President Obama
> has lived up to his promise to me and all Nevadans by working with me
> to kill the Yucca Mountain project."
>
> Energy Department officials have said it's the administration's
> policy that Yucca Mountain would never be used. Still, there is
> scientific value in continuing to attempt to license the site. Some
> opponents of the site have been uncomfortable with that stance,
> including Reid.
>
> In an attempt to find an alternative to Yucca Mountain, the
> administration said a commission would be formed to study nuclear
> waste storage alternatives. The commission would then make its
> recommendations to the Energy Department.
>
> On Wednesday, the Senate voted to cut next years' funding for the
> NRC's review to $29 million in 2010. The president had requested $56
> million.
>
>
> Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday the Obama
> administration has assured him it will seek to eliminate funding for a
> review needed to open a nuclear waste repository below Nevada's Yucca
> Mountain.
>
> The money for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be
> eliminated for fiscal year 2011. The loss of the money would sap the
> agency of the resources necessary to review an Energy Department
> application seeking approval to construct the repository.
>
> President Barack Obama opposes the use of Yucca Mountain as a
> nuclear waste dump. Still, the 1987 law requiring that waste be stored
> at the site remains on the books, so the project could in theory be
> revived.
>
> The construction of a nuclear waste repository in Nevada is
> extremely unpopular with voters there and the state's lawmakers are
> eager to trumpet any progress they make in killing the project.
>
> "This is a major victory for Nevada," said Reid, a Democrat who
> is up for re-election next year. "I am pleased that President Obama
> has lived up to his promise to me and all Nevadans by working with me
> to kill the Yucca Mountain project."
>
> Energy Department officials have said it's the administration's
> policy that Yucca Mountain would never be used. Still, there is
> scientific value in continuing to attempt to license the site. Some
> opponents of the site have been uncomfortable with that stance,
> including Reid.
>
> In an attempt to find an alternative to Yucca Mountain, the
> administration said a commission would be formed to study nuclear
> waste storage alternatives. The commission would then make its
> recommendations to the Energy Department.
>
> On Wednesday, the Senate voted to cut next years' funding for the
> NRC's review to $29 million in 2010. The president had requested $56
> million.
>
>