Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is preparing legislation aimed at restarting licensing efforts for the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a staffer confirmed Wednesday.
Shimkus spokesman Jordan Haverly said the bill would address controversial land and water rights in Nevada that the Energy Department has said make the project “unworkable.” The legislation, which Shimkus hopes to move through the House before the August recess, would also support interim storage of nuclear waste, Haverly confirmed. He did not offer further details.
Shimkus is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which holds congressional jurisdiction over nuclear waste management, as well as chairman of the panel’s environment subcommittee. Shimkus and his Republican colleagues for months have been preparing for a potential Yucca Mountain restart.
Chatter around Washington suggests that resuming development of Yucca Mountain is inevitable, given the election of a Republican president, GOP control of both chambers of Congress, and the retirement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.), who led the crusade against the project.
President Donald Trump has not committed one way or another on the repository, dodging questions about Yucca Mountain in October during a campaign interview in Nevada. Trump’s energy secretary-designate, Rick Perry, also was noncommittal during his Senate confirmation hearing in January.
