Consent issue in waste debate
WASHINGTON — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-nev., signaled Thursday that Nevada could support a Senate bill that calls for permanent and temporary storage of nuclear waste as long as the legislation was amended to require the state’s consent before construction of a facility at Yucca Mountain.
Nuclear industry advocates reluctantly endorsed the Senate bill but urged the Senate to push forward on Yucca Mountain, citing the millions spent to research the site and the time that has been invested and would be lost if another permanent location had to be found.
The state of Nevada, where Yucca Mountain is located, was notably absent from the witness list as the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the Nuclear Waste Administration Act.
But Cortez Masto, a member of the committee, insisted that legislation could move forward if amended to address the state’s demands.
The bill calls for consent-based siting in new permanent and temporary sites, but not those in Nevada, New Mexico and Texas currently under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., also asked that the bill be changed. A private company has proposed building a temporary storage facility near Roswell, New Mexico. The proposal is opposed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Cortez Masto and Heinrich won assurances from the committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-alaska, that she would be willing to make changes to find a solution that can move the bill forward.
The legislation has the potential to be the first in many years that could garner the support of Nevada.
The bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration bill was filed by Murkowski, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-tenn., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-calif., to break the stalemate and move forward on waste disposal while the Yucca Mountain debate continues.
Cortez Masto, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-nev., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., the ranking Democrat on the committee, have filed an amendment to the bill to require the consent of Nevada for final approval to build a facility at Yucca Mountain.
Lawmakers asked a panel of experts if there were alternatives to move forward quickly. Waste is currently stored on-site at power plants in 35 states.
Steven Nesbit with the American Nuclear Society and Geoffrey Fettus, senior attorney for the Natural Resource Defense Council, told the committee there were geological formations in as many as 36 states that were suitable for nuclear waste storage.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.