The Department of Energy has largely blanked out the section of its website that addresses consent-based siting of nuclear waste.
The web page on the program now says only, “Thank you for your interest in this topic. We are currently updating our website to reflect the Department’s priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Perry.”
This comes as little surprise, as the Trump administration has already made clear it is turning away from its predecessor’s plan for consent-based siting and back toward development of the Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada as the final resting place for U.S. spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.
Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Energy stopped development of Yucca Mountain and developed a plan to over a period of decades site and build pilot, interim, and permanent storage facilities. Approval from state and local governments would be necessary to build the separate repositories for defense and commercial waste.
The Department of Energy reversed course again in its fiscal 2018 budget request, seeking $110 million to resume the licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Yucca Mountain. Another $10 million would be directed toward interim waste storage efforts.
Under the White House budget plan, the NRC would receive $30 million for Yucca Mountain licensing operations.
