Nevada Democrats re-introduce push to block Yucca Mountain
This is the south entrance to a tunnel at Yucca Mountain. Gary Duarte, director of U.S. Nuclear Energy Foundation, recently told Churchill County Commissioners Yucca Mountain still have many benefits for its use.
LAS VEGAS — Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada is reviving a push to block the creation of a national nuclear-waste dump at Yucca Mountain. Cortez Masto, Nevada's other Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen and the state's three Democratic Reps. Dina Titus, Susie, Lee and Steven Horsford re-introduced legislation on Tuesday that Cortez Masto has run in past years which would bar the federal government from moving nuclear waste into a state without first receiving permission from the governor and local officials. President Donald Trump's administration tried to revive the mothballed project to store the nation's nuclear waste northwest of Las Vegas at Yucca Mountain. Trump in early 2020 reversed his administration's position and declared on Twitter that he heard the state and respects it. The proposal has long been unpopular with most Nevada residents and officials. President Joe Biden has long opposed the idea and has said no nuclear waste would be stored in Nevada under his administration. Titus says in a statement that Nevada has allies in the White House and at the U.S. Department of Energy and Cortez Masto says Biden's Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has committed to working with her on developing an alternative to Yucca Mountain.
