Heller, Berkley say Yucca Mountain backers should move on

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Both Democrat Shelley Berkley and Republican Dean Heller today called on their fellow House members to drop the push to resurrect the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump project.

President Obama, keeping a campaign promise, eliminated federal funding for the project 75 miles north of Las Vegas. But some members of Congress are trying to bring it back to life.

"It's time for proponents of Yucca Mountain to move on," Heller said.

"The fact that Yucca Mountain is a threat to public safety should be enough to terminate this project, but given our nation's dire financial situation, it makes little sense to keep spending taxpayer dollars on this ill-conceived project."

Berkley was more blunt.

"What part of no Yucca Mountain do these pro-dump lawmakers fail to understand," she said.

She said the project is in the middle of an earthquake zone and threatens the state's prime tourist attraction, Las Vegas.

She also pointed to the potential vulnerability of transporting waste across the nation to the site to terrorists.

Berkley blamed House Republicans for spearheading the drive to bring the project back to life.

Heller said the Congress should spend time solving the nation's immediate problems "instead of focusing on a project that will never come to fruition."

Yucca Mountain is one of the few issues Heller and Berkley - who are politically polar opposites - agree on.