Blue-Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Waste Disposal Yet to be Convened

In February of 2009, when Obama reduced funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, he announced that a commission would be formed to explore alternate solutions for the management of nuclear waste. A year later, no commission has been convened—and people on all sides of the issue are wondering what the implications will be for further inaction.

In January, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the Energy Department is working “as hard and fast as [it] can” to form the long-awaited commission, reported the New York Times.

Some have suggested that part of the delay could be the result of having difficulties finding candidates who are convinced that Yucca Mountain is not a viable storage option.

Another point of uncertainty is whether the commission would be established through executive branch authority, which would allow its proceedings to be private, or whether it would be established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which keeps public records and reports formally to Congress.

Despite reduced funding, the DOE repository license for Yucca Mountain has not been withdrawn. And Nevada senator Harry Reid, one of the project’s most influential opponents, may have a tough re-election battle this year.

In the meantime, new power plants have been proposed that will further increase the amount of waste being produced. Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided that nuclear waste can be stored at reactor sites for at least 100 years, a suitable long-term disposal solution is a necessity.

Meanwhile, industry is starting to agitate over the fees it has paid over the years toward the development of a waste storage project. Utilities have recovered more than $7 billion from the Treasury for the DOE’s breach of contract in failing to start removing spent waste from reactor sites starting in 1998.

Return to February 2010 Western Energy News

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