Heller asks GOP leaders to back off Yucca efforts

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Dean Heller is distancing himself from House GOP leaders who are working to keep plans alive to build a repository in Nevadfor the nation's nuclear waste.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and others, Heller took issue with a provision that House Republicans inserted into a spending bill. The provision would halt the flow of money for activities associated with closing the Yucca Mountain site.

Prospects for the provision are slim, because the Obama administration is moving ahead with closing Yucca Mountain.

Sen. Harry Reid also promises to fight the proposal in the Senate.

But Heller's letter gives him a chance to show Nevada voters that he disagrees with GOP leaders on the need for Yucca Mountain.

Heller called the project a boondoggle.