Yucca Senate hearing to be held

The legislation, which also would streamline licensing procedures, is expected to meet opposition from Nevada senators and some other lawmakers who favor changing current laws and opening interim storage sites to avoid the political battle that has so far kept Yucca Mountain from being developed.

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both Nevada Democrats, have lobbied colleagues against the development of Yucca Mountain as a permanent nuclear storage site. They both oppose the Barrasso legislation.

“This half-hatched proposal to trample on Nevada’s rights and revive Yucca Mountain poses a danger to families living in neighboring communities, as scientists have already confirmed Yucca Mountain is unsafe and unfit for nuclear waste storage,” Cortez Masto and Rosen said in a joint statement.

Cortez Masto has filed legislation that would require consent-based siting — permission from local authorities and tribal leaders before a storage facility could be built in their states and communities.

A bill to find an alternative use for Yucca Mountain by the military or the private sector has been filed by Rosen.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-alaska, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-tenn., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-calif., also are weighing legislation that would emphasize development of interim storage sites in Texas and New Mexico until questions over Yucca Mountain are resolved.

Any legislation allowing interim storage would require a change in current law that designates Yucca Mountain as the sole site for nuclear waste storage.

The Senate bill mirrors similar legislation passed by the House in 2017 by a vote of 340-72. That bill later died in the Senate.

Contact Gary Martin gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.