REP. FRELINGHUYSEN DEFENDS YUCCA MTN. EMPHASIS IN FY14 SPENDING BILL

House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) yesterday defended his panel’s continued push for the currently shuttered Yucca Mountain geological waste repository in the Fiscal Year 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill, which was reported out of subcommittee yesterday, would provide $25 million to sustain the Yucca Mountain project, as well as give the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy the ability to transfer funding to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission so that the NRC can continue with the Yucca Mountain license application. “I think we as taxpayers have invested about $15 billion dollars there [at Yucca Mountain],” Frelinghuysen told reporters following yesterday’s subcommittee markup. “While I’m obviously aware of the home state anxiety and concern and opposition, I think we have an obligation to see what we can do to move the permanent repository forward. Some day people may thank us for keeping it alive and we hope the licensing process goes through so we can continue,” he said.