House Republicans want to revisit the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste program, first with the request that congressional auditors determine what resources are available to complete the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license review for the repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who chairs the panel’s environment subcommittee, in a letter Monday requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyze what contracts, contractors, and federal resources are available to complete the Yucca Mountain license application.
“Management of spent nuclear fuel, which includes a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, remains a priority for the committee,” Shimkus said in a statement. “That’s why we’ve asked GAO to tell us how much the Obama Administration’s failure to follow the law has delayed this 30 year, $15 billion investment, and what resources will be necessary to restart the project.”
The Obama administration in 2011 ceased funding for the Nevada repository, then established a blue-ribbon panel that in 2012 recommended a consent-based strategy for dealing with storage of America’s nuclear waste. The administration late last year formally initiated such a siting process.
NRC has testified that it needs $330 million to finish the Yucca license process, while DOE has not offered a number. Both agencies would require appropriations to complete the process. The Obama administration did not include Yucca funding in its 2017 fiscal budget proposal.
