Ahead of a hearing on nuclear-waste storage in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) argued that Yucca Mountain is not the solution to our country’s nuclear-waste problem in written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy, and Environment.
Heller asked the Subcommittee to identify and explore viable alternatives for the long-term storage of nuclear waste in areas that are willing to house it. He also made the case to the Subcommittee to pursue his Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, which would allow for the construction of a nuclear waste repository only if the Secretary of Energy has secured written consent from the governor of the host state, affected units of local government, and affected Indian tribes.
“This ill-conceived project would not only cause significant harm to the well-being of my home state and all Nevadans, but also poses a national security risk that is too great to ignore,” Heller wrote. “My position remains clear: Yucca Mountain is dead. I encourage this Subcommittee in today’s hearing to move past failed proposals of the past and look to solutions of the future.
