Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/20/2015
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), Chair of the House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee, plans to visit the Yucca Mountain site on April 9, according to a letter of invitation sent to fellow committee members earlier this month. Shimkus has been a vocal Pro-Yucca supporter, and earlier this year during a hearing with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Shimkus indicated he planned to go to Nevada to visit the site. “Subcommittee members received an invitation last week from Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman Shimkus and Ranking Member [Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.] to join a trip to Yucca Mountain on April 9th,” Committee spokesperson Charlotte Baker said. “I will have more details to share as the trip gets closer.” According to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reps. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) will both join the tour, but Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev,), both opponents of the site, will not be in attendance.
Momentum towards a solution in Congress nuclear waste policy has been growing since the year began. House Republicans, led by Shimkus (R-Ill.), have announced plans to also introduce legislation soon that would incentivize Nevada into hosting a repository, mainly through infrastructure and economic boosts. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, released the Safety Evaluation Report on Yucca Mountain, which found the repository design meets most regulatory safety requirements. Earlier this year, Shimkus said he was working on an incentives bill that hopefully will entice Nevada through infrastructure upgrades and economic development to embrace Yucca Mountain. That bill is planned for introduction sometime this summer, Shimkus has said.
Sens. Reid and Heller, though, have maintained that Yucca Mountain is a dead project, and they have vowed to fight any attempt by Congress to resurrect it. Last week, they introduced a bill called the “Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act,” which permits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to authorize construction of a nuclear waste repository only if the Secretary of Energy has secured written consent from the governor of the host state, affected units of local government, and affected Indian tribes.
