DOE’s Perry testifies in support of Yucca Mountain, interim storage
In recent testimony before a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Energy Secretary Rick Perry stressed the importance of moving forward with Yucca Mountain and interim storage solutions.
“We have a moral and national security obligation to come up with a long-term solution, finding the safest [nuclear waste] repositories available. … We can no longer kick the can down the road,” Perry said. “I’ve been instructed to move forward toward that goal.”
The President’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget includes $120 million to restart licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and to establish a used nuclear fuel storage program.
Perry also told the Subcommittee that no plans have yet been made in regards to nuclear waste storage and noted that doing so requires working with Congress.
“While there are a number of options that we talked about, no decision has been made with respect to the timing or location of waste storage,” Perry said. “There are no plans, at this particular time, for interim storage. Any such plans would require coordination with you [Congress], state and local officials.”
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources also recently held an oversight hearing to examine the U.S. Department of Energy’s $28 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2018, which represents a $2.7 billion reduction from the current fiscal year.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who chaired the hearing, stated that she agreed with some parts of budget proposal but also expressed concern about some of its proposed cuts.
“While I understand what drove this proposal and appreciate the need to derive savings and balance our budget, this cannot come at the expense of our efforts to further science and energy innovation,” Murkowski said. “We need to work together to find areas of agreement and opportunities to ensure the next generation of energy technologies is developed here.”
Ranking Member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) expressed her concerns over the proposed cuts’ impact on National Labs research, clean energy and the U.S. economy.
“The Department of Energy is a global leader in science and technology, with an unrivaled network of national laboratories,” Cantwell said. “It is also key to our national security, when it comes to both nuclear and cyber threats. The President’s budget proposes to slash many of DOE’s essential programs. It would devastate our emerging clean-energy jobs and our economy.”
