Sen. Heller opposes Yucca Mountain bill, urges partnership on alternative nuclear waste solution

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) recently sent a letter to House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL), expressing his opposition to a bill that would revive the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository and urged the House to work with him on an alternative solution.

Yucca Mountain, located in Nevada, would be used as a site for the disposal and storage of used nuclear
fuel and high-level radioactive waste from civilian nuclear power generation, defense, national security,
and other activities.

“I fully appreciate your commitment to ensure that progress is made on this issue, but I am highly
concerned that your proposed legislation would not only significantly harm the state of Nevada but would infringe upon states’ rights concerning air and water permitting authority,” Heller wrote.

Heller suggested a “consent-based process” for identifying communities willing to host nuclear waste sites.

“I have long said that I stand ready to partner with you on a viable solution that provides for consent-based storage for spent nuclear fuel and defense high-level waste,” Heller wrote. “With that said, that solution is not forcing that burden on Nevada, a state that has never had a nuclear power plant. Rather, identifying communities willing to host a long-term repository instead of forcing it upon states that have outright opposed such a site, is the only viable long-term solution to our nation’s nuclear waste problem.”