Declaring “We’re done with Yucca Mountain,” the Obama administration today announced the formation of a 15-member panel to study nuclear waste disposal alternatives -- another critical step in killing the proposed waste dump in Nevada.
The White House’s top energy adviser, Carol Browner, said Yucca Mountain is off the table as the new commission headed by Lee Hamilton and Brent Scowcroft begins a two-year process to study alternatives for handling the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.
“The debate over Yucca Mountain is over as the president has made clear,” Browner said during a conference call announcing the commission. “We’re done with Yucca. We need to be looking at other alternatives." [...]
Nevada’s Washington lawmakers are confident the commission will take Nevada closer to being done with Yucca Mountain.
“President Obama and I have worked closely to stop dumping taxpayer money into Yucca, and I have fought hard to ensure Yucca Mountain is dead,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “This panel of experts proposing other options for nuclear waste is the logical next step in that process.”
Democratic Rep. Dina Titus called the panel “another critical step forward in the effort to put a stop to Yucca Mountain once and for all.”
“I have been opposed to Yucca Mountain since day one and I have long worked with my colleagues to block it,” Titus said. “Today we are closer than ever to ensuring that Yucca Mountain never becomes a reality.”
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said, "By taking Yucca Mountain off the table, commission members will be able to propose a safe and secure solution to America’s nuclear waste problem.”
Thank goodness we have some sort of sane leadership representing us in Washington. Yucca is on its way to being gone for good. And finally, FINALLY, Nevada will no longer be forced into being the nation's big radioactive toxic dump.
It's really about damned time we see an end to that insanity.
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