Though calls from Republicans not to abandon Yucca Mountain dominated a House Environment and the Economy subcommittee hearing with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on nuclear waste strategy yesterday, there appeared to be at least some progress toward toward new legislation as a bipartisan group of lawmakers stating support for a bill, as long as it left open the possibility of the Yucca eventually being one of the final repositories used to dispose of used nuclear fuel. “I am a strong supporter of Yucca,” Joe Barton (R-Texas) said at the hearing yesterday. “If we can adopt a dual approach to license Yucca as a final repository but also let states compete for interim storage, I for one support that.” He added that, “If we could pass a high-level waste bill out of this committee, that would be a tremendous accomplishment.” John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said, “As long as Yucca Mountain is still in the mix, we can move forward, but I have seen no indication from the administration that it is willing to move forward.”
That would seem to give some hope to the idea of reconciling the House with the Senate’s nuclear waste bill, introduced by a bipartisan group in June. However, Reps. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) and Gene Green (D-Texas) both came out against a tenet of the Senate’s proposal, the idea of a new organization to oversee nuclear waste management, citing an increase in red tape and delay in eventual solution. “A new organization overseeing nuclear waste isn’t the answer. It would just create additional delays,” Harper said. “I think it would be redundant to create a new agency,” Green added, saying, “We should fix the one we have and not introduce more red tape.”
Shimkus suggested to Moniz that the $5.6 billion that the Obama administration has estimated it would need over the next 10 years to site a pilot interim storage facility should instead be given to the state of Nevada, to soften public opinion there and allow Yucca to move forward. “Part of the problem with Nevada is they said, ‘Show me the money.’ Wouldn’t $5.6 billion to a struggling economy … don’t you think that would be a good lure?”
