Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who is running for the Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), this week introduced legislation to turn Yucca Mountain into a non-nuclear economic hub.
The text of the measure, which Rosen calls the Jobs, Not Waste Act, had not been published at deadline Friday for RadWaste Monitor.
In a press release Thursday, Rosen said her bill would prohibit building a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain “until the Director of the Office of Management and Budget submits a study to Congress on the economic viability and job-creating benefits of alternative uses of the Yucca Mountain site.”
In the release, Rosen said the remote Nye County site could be used for “defense activities, such as a command facility for unmanned aircraft systems; a secure electronic data center; the development of renewable energy sources; or scientific research.”
Congress has designated Yucca Mountain as the location for the nation’s sole permanent repository for U.S. spent nuclear reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste, though Nevada lawmakers have managed to prevent the Department of Energy from actually building a facility there for decades. Nevada’s current congressional delegation opposes sending nuclear waste to Yucca, though Rep. Mark Amodei (R) wants to see the mountain turned into a nuclear-energy research center or spent-fuel reprocessing facility.
A poll this month by the Nevada Independent news website and the Washington-based Mellman Group had Heller and Rosen running about even in their Senate race. Heller had one-point lead, which was well within the poll’s margin of error. The election is scheduled for Nov. 6.
Heller has told local news outlets only he can prevent the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from shipping waste to Yucca Mountain.
Rosen’s bill stands in opposition to the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act that the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis last year. The measure would make it easier for DOE and the NRC to license Yucca as a waste repository. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), said last month the legislation could get a vote on the floor by June.
Rosen’s bill, which currently has no co-sponsors, has also been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
