White House is 'done' with Yucca Mt.

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January 30, 2010

ST. GEORGE - The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site is finished, according to the White House, after administration officials announced a 15-person commission to find alternatives Friday.

The administration appointed former Rep. Lee Hamilton and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft to run the commission, which includes scientists, industry representatives and former lawmakers. The commission is given 18 months to produce an interim report on better ways to store spent nuclear rods, with final results due within 24 months.

"Expanding our Nation's capacity to generate clean nuclear energy is crucial to our ability to combat climate change, enhance security, and increase economic prosperity," President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to the Department of Energy. "My Administration is undertaking substantial steps to expand the safe, secure, and responsible use of nuclear energy."

Yucca Mountain has been pegged as the nation's first permanent nuclear waste repository for more than 20 years, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Nevada lawmakers strongly oppose using the site, located about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. President Obama has said he doesn't see Yucca Mountain as a viable option, and White House energy adviser Carol Browner said the White House is "done with Yucca."


read more: http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20100130/NEWS01/1300311/White-House-is-done-with-Yucca

[Gecko6400]

1. My God!

What a frightful waste of money this has been then (similar to the Super Conductor/Super Collider fiasco in TX). I just wonder where the administration envisions (surely they must have some idea or suggestions, at least) storing radioactive waste, as there are extreme NIMBY folks out there and justifiably so.

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2. The proposed loan guarantees just announced

. . . suggest to me that they are going to rely (in the short term, at least) on keeping the waste on-site at the nuclear facilities. The president has said he's comfortable with that arrangement until some other plan can be formulated and agreed on.