President Donald Trump’s pick to become the next U.S. energy secretary pledged Thursday to uphold his predecessor’s promise to begin removing by 2021 weapons-grade plutonium the government secretly shipped last year to a security site in southern Nevada.
Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette also said under questioning from Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto at a committee hearing the department won’t take any action to restart efforts to build a nuclear waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain before Congress decides whether to finance the effort.
Nevada is seeking a court order to force removal of the plutonium it trucked to Nevada over the state’s objections.
Outgoing Secretary Rick Perry, who announced his resignation last month, told Cortez Masto in April the department would begin removing the material in 2021.
Brouillette gave her a “firm commitment” Thursday to “honor that agreement.”
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