Energy Secretary May Speed Plutonium Removal from Nevada

Mar 19, 2019
Mar 19, 2019 Updated Apr 6, 2022

High court nominee ruled against Yucca Mountain licensing

UPDATE: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto says Energy Secretary Rick Perry has committed to expediting the removal of weapons-grade plutonium it secretly shipped to a site in Nevada last year if she agrees to stop blocking appointments to vacant positions in his department.

But it's not clear how soon that could happen or where the material that's currently scheduled to be moved to New Mexico by 2026-27 would go in the meantime.

Cortez Masto told reporters in Carson City Wednesday night that Perry phoned her last week to discuss the matter. The Nevada Democrat says they talked about removing the radioactive material from a site north of Las Vegas over the next three to five years. But she says she wants a commitment to that effect in writing.

The Energy Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus on Tuesday denounced a request from President Donald Trump's administration to restart the licensing process for a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

The Democrat told a joint session of the Nevada Legislature that she will not stand by and let Trump's administration treat Nevada "as a dumping ground for the nation's nuclear waste."

"We don't make it. We don't use it. We're not gonna store it," she said to a wave of applause from Nevada legislators.

Titus called the project unsafe and unsound. She said she tells presidential candidates looking to be successful in Nevada that they must oppose a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

Trump has included a request for $116 million for the Yucca Mountain repository in his proposed budget for the Department of Energy next year.

She also denounced the secret shipment of weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a nuclear security site in Nevada.

"You cannot trust the (Department of Energy) when it comes to nuclear issues," she said.

The Democrat praised legislators for passing a bill that expands gun background checks to private gun sales and transfers.

"I say shame on those rural sheriffs who say they won't enforce it," she said. "They are recklessly gambling with the lives of Nevadans and nobody should be above the law."

Speaking with reporters after the speech, Titus said she has met or plans to talk with multiple Democrats running for president, including former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.