Yucca Mountain Still on Life Support

Harry Reid, D-Nev. and Energy Secretary Steven Chu have announced a blue ribbon commission to evaluate nuclear waste storage alternatives—and will not move to end Yucca Mountain until its findings are delivered, at the earliest.

Despite Reid’s talk of killing the 25-year, $13.5 billion project, and President Obama’s assertion that it does not offer a solution to the nation’s nuclear waste storage problem, Yucca Mountain is still in the federal budget.

Funding levels are lower than ever. But the 2010 budget still includes almost $200 million for the project, and its licensing process is still underway.

Officially ending Yucca Mountain would require a change to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which was amended in 1987 to require that the government store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel there.

Federal courts have already declared the Energy Department to be in breach of contract for not taking ownership of the spent fuel currently being stored at nuclear reactors. Already some $1 billion have been awarded to utilities. Without a viable storage solution, future liabilities could be as much as $11 billion.

A spokesman for Reid, Jon Summers, told the AP that only after the blue ribbon commission had reported its findings would they be in the best position to change the law, as lawmakers wouldn’t likely vote to shut down the project without a new option in place.

Energy Department officials have indicated that continuing Yucca’s licensing process has scientific value and that questions about the project must be resolved “thoughtfully, carefully and comprehensively.”

But John McCain, R-Ariz., has challenged the use of taxpayer and utility funds for a project that is being held “hostage,” saying in a statement, "Let's be honest with the American taxpayers and move forward on Yucca Mountain as we need to and I support, or if not, close it and refund the money."

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