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twitterReid writes obit for Yucca, pointing to new Obama vow
Yucca compared to horror-show zombie that will not die
Friday, July 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Harry Reid
Sun Topics
Sun Topics
- Reid: White House to cut off Yucca funding (7-30-2009)
- Yep, waste dump still on track for deep-sixing (7-30-2009)
Sun Blogs
Washington — The head of the Nevada agency fighting the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump likes to compare it to a horror-show zombie that will not die.
The Yucca Mountain project has seen its funding slashed, its science dismissed, its support dwindle. Still it lives on.
But on Thursday, the project 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas suffered its strongest blow yet.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the White House and its energy secretary have agreed to provide no funding in next year’s budget to pursue the project’s license application before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The agreement Reid reached with the White House is perhaps the most significant move to stop the project in the more than 20 years since the site was targeted by Congress and the nuclear industry as a place to bury highly radioactive fuel rods used at nuclear power plants.
If the president declines to fund the application process when he unveils his fiscal 2011 budget early next year, the Energy Department would not be able to continue the review, essentially halting decades of effort.
“Withdrawing the funds certainly stops it in its tracks,” said Bruce Breslow, executive director of Nevada’s Nuclear Projects Agency, which is fighting the project. “Cutting off the money is like chopping its legs off. It can’t move.”
President Barack Obama promised on the campaign trail to stop the dump if he was elected. He won Nevada, traditionally a swing state, by a wide margin.
Obama and Reid have since formed a working relationship as the president relies on the top Democrat to help usher his agenda through Congress — and Reid has been in talks with the administration to end the Yucca Mountain project.
Obama’s first budget severely reduced Yucca Mountain’s funding and included his intent to “terminate” the project.
Obama offered $196.8 million for Yucca Mountain — a fraction of what the Energy Department needs to develop the dump and a clear signal that Yucca’s days were numbered.
Yet the project’s foes remained skeptical, because Obama was allowing its license application before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to proceed, a process that can take up to four years.
As long as the license application continues, opponents worried, the dump was not truly dead. What would stop a future president from opening the dump?
Obama’s energy secretary, Nobel laureate Steven Chu, didn’t calm concerns.
Chu suggested that allowing the licensing process to play itself out would have scientific value if and when another geological repository is proposed for storing nuclear waste.
Observers also thought the administration was biding time so as not to trigger more lawsuits from the utility companies. The utilities have sued the federal government for its failure to open Yucca Mountain in 1998, as promised, and the government has amassed damages of more than $7 billion and climbing.
On Wednesday, as the Senate was working its way through votes on the fiscal 2010 appropriations bill for the Energy Department and related agencies, Reid was on the phone with Chu and the White House.
The administration relayed its intent to significantly reduce funding for the next fiscal year.
On Thursday Reid announced the administration had agreed to cut off in 2011 all funding to pursue the license application. The only money made available would be to conclude the work, bringing the project to a close, he said.
“This is a major victory for Nevada,” Reid said in a statement. “I am pleased that President Obama has lived up to his promise to me and all Nevadans by working with me to kill the Yucca Mountain project.
“I look forward to continuing my work with the president and his administration to find responsible, alternative solutions for dealing with nuclear waste,” Reid said.
Reid is up for reelection in 2010, and the ability to trumpet such a major blow to a project that many Nevadans oppose would be a significant campaign coup.
The fiscal 2011 budget would likely be announced early next year and would be making its way through Congress next summer, as election season is under way.
Administration officials confirmed this week’s talks.
“The president opposes the Yucca Mountain project, and that is reflected in the FY 2010 budget and will be again in the FY 2011 budget,” a White House spokesman said.
The administration is assembling a panel of experts to recommend alternatives to the Nevada site, and the “Department of Energy will be making an announcement soon on the formation of the Blue Ribbon Commission,” an agency spokeswoman said.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the main industry lobby, was not pleased, and hinted at additional legal action from the utilities.
“Budget decisions that, in effect, significantly delay the repository program are counter to current policy and would result in the government defaulting on contracts with utilities at a cost of billions of dollars to taxpayers,” institute spokesman John Keeley said.
But longtime dump foe Rep. Shelley Berkeley, a Democrat, welcomed the news. “With this announcement, we are closer than ever before to eliminating this threat to the very future of Las Vegas.”
Yet Yucca is not over until it’s over.
The law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2002 — naming Yucca Mountain as the chosen site for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel — remains on the books.
Overturning that law may prove daunting, as even congressional allies of Reid and Obama represent states with nuclear power plants that want to get rid of the waste.
Shy of overturning the law, two other avenues remain for killing the dump plan.
Under the law, the energy secretary has the authority to withdraw the license application from the queue — a move the Obama campaign said last year it would make if he became president.
The energy secretary also has the authority to declare the Yucca Mountain site unsuitable, which would withdraw it from consideration.
Until these happen, or the law is overturned, Breslow said, Yucca still lives.
“We’re hoping that Secretary Chu will withdraw the license application and declare the site unsuitable based on all of the technical findings that Nevada has proved over the years,” Breslow said.
“The day that the license application gets withdrawn and the site is declared unsuitable by the energy secretary is the day I finally let out a deep breath.”
Discussion: 36 comments so far…
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The Sun
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"Yet Yucca is not over until it's over.
The law passed by Congress naming Yucca Mountain as the chosen site for the nation's spent nuclear fuel -- remains on the books.
Overturning that law may prove daunting, as even congressional allies of Reid and Obama represent states with nuclear power plants that want to get rid of the waste.
The energy secretary has the authority to declare the Yucca Mountain site unsuitable, which would withdraw it from consideration."
By not allowing the LA to be processed by the NRC Obama will not be able to say that his decision was based on good science.
"The President has acknowledged that nuclear power is -- and likely will remain -- an important source of electricity for many years to come and that how the Nation deals with the dangerous byproduct of nuclear reactors is a critical question that has yet to be resolved.
"The President, however, has made clear that the Nation needs a better solution than the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.
Such a solution must be based on sound science and capable of securing broad support, including support from those who live in areas that might be affected by the solution.
Where is Obama going to put the "Nation needs a better solution than the proposed Yucca Mountain repository" something that will last amillion years?
Like GITMO Obama is stopping something before he has an alternative.
Like the bad mouthing of the CIA - Obama is telling us how bad the top scientific organization in America are.
Most disturbing is the consistent denigration of the quality science being produce by the Americas ten National Laboratories and the USGS.
These Obama/Chu lead organizations are on the forefront of every worldwide scientific endeavor know to man and are being besmeared by Harry Reid and Nevada.
Let the LA process with the NRC review speak for the sound science. Obama recently said "it is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make facts, not ideology."
The NEI will be awarded the project management in court and will get the $30 billion
hey future...
start looking for a new job partner...
quit crying like a little girl...
try to hang unto to your dignity...
and stick all that scientific blather in your ear...
bottom line...
yucca is a mountain prone to earthquakes...
yucca is above ground water...
ergo...
yucca is not the best place to store this crap...
period!!!
end of story!!!
Both Reid and Obama are pushing to break US law.
When will the impeachment hearings start?
Harry Reid has a way of killing golden eggs and jobs for Nevadans. There is no hope for the state budget!
hey future, sgtrock, and firethorne...
this is what i keep hearing...
boo hoo hoo...
wah wah wah...
save your dignity...
do not say or do anything to get your way...
like our poor poor terribly misguided republican friends...
bottom line...
yucca is deadly dangerous...
at some point it will leak...
maybe due to an earthquake...
and people will die...
period...
end of story...
also...
vegas will recover nicely form the jobs that will be lost from not having the most dangerous dump known to man in our back yard...
period...
end of story...
quit crying...
brush up the ole resume...
finally...
great job senator reid...
you are the man...
keep up the good work!!!
"yucca is deadly dangerous...
at some point it will leak......"
Yes, nuclear waste inside of premium casts stored in layers of high grade metal buried deep in a thick thick concrete vault miles within a mountain that is over a hundred miles from LV is much more dangerous then let's say......... a weapon test site where tons of nuclear explosions occurred above and below ground.
Thank God that never happened.
If we had an area near Yucca mountain where tons and tons and tons of nuclear weapons were exploded then there were never been a Las Vegas. People would never visit or live in such a city.
Thank God that never happened.
Do you see a flaw in your statement?
Dear Las Vegas Sun,
Go through your own archives and see how many times Cleanface Reid has said he has killed Yucca Mountain. Must be at least 50. He did it to get Obama elected and he does it every time he (Cleanface) needs to get re-elected. When the license application is withdrawn and Reid uses his power to REALLY help Nevada and change the law... Yucca will be dead. Until then, Cleanface is just playing politics with our lives.
Thank you Harry for continuing to fight for our community.
Contrary to your story, the Secretary of Energy does NOT have the legal authority under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to withdraw the License Application nor to now declare the site unsuitable. The former never existed, and the latter expired upon the recommendation and confirmation by Congress in 2002 that Yucca Mountain is the site.
What is it with the far left liberal socialists this year - if you don't like a law, you either defund its enforcement or ignore it. This is not the American Constitutional process. By starting down this path, the political legal system will become destabilized as each succeeding party in power will just defund or ignore laws passed by the other party.
This new Presidential and Senatorial win at any cost is destroying the very foundations of what has kept America united. Freedom of the Press could be on someone's next chopping block as could every other Constitutional protection. Be careful what you wish for and how much you are willing to lose in the bigger picture of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
If you are opposed to the NWPA, then change it but don't play with America's future because you can't.
hey sgtrock...
one is past tense...
one is future tense...
bottom line...
whenever the governement is responsible for storing the most toxic, deadly, dangerous crap known to man that will remain toxic, deadly, dangerous crap for a million years in a big hole in the ground prone to earthquakes above ground water...
i am 100% positive there will be a disaster at some point down the road...
so take your scientific mumbo jumbo and stick it in your ear!!!
hey davelv...
you have got to be the biggest cry baby of all time...
let's review what happened under the prior administration...
shall we...
under w the loser scum bag clown, cheney the evil doer, and rove the psychopath the constitution was ignored...
wholely and completely ignored...
so quit crying like a typical poor poor terribly misguided republican fool...
be a man...
and brush up the ole resume!!!
HEY BIRDBRAIN,when you wake up from your harry dream,come back and post somemore?I ll bet your just like all the rest of the democraps,close my eyes and hope for a hit,and when it dosent come true,lets just blame the repooplicans?Get a life pal!Ill bet youd still belive in the tooth fairy,if uncle harry said so!
"Yucca compared to horror-show zombie that will not die"
I've always felt this about Harry Reid.
Comment removed by staff.
THE ONLY LOOSER I CAN SEE IS YOU MY FREIND! FOLLOW HARRY ALL THE WAY TO WHERE HE S HEADED! INTO THE GROUND!YOU ARE ONE HECK OF AN AMERICAN CLOWN!!! BUT I DO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS? WHERE SHOULD THEY PUT THE DUMP THEN? SOMEONE ELSE S BACK YARD?AND BY THE WAY,IT WAS A GREAT RELEIF WHEN I LEFT THE NEV BORDER! I FEEL MORE AND MORE AT EASE KNOWING THAT THIS FOOL ISNT SPEAKING FOR ME ANYMORE!GOOD LUCK NEV,WITH UNCLE HARRY INCHARGE,YOUR ALL DOOMED!!!
Way to go Nevada.!!!!!!!!!! You guys certainly put one in win column for the NIMBYs(Not In My Back Yard). All I have to say is you all are bunch planet killing hypocrites. The worst case scenario was a few isotopes hitting the water table in 100,000 plus years. This coupled with fact nuclear decay made the radiotoxicity of these isotopes very low makes Nevada the home of the ignorant NIMBYs. The entire state needs to take high school physics. No wonder Nevada was the home of bad loans. If you always rely on someone else to make your decision instead of sitting down and reading the fine print you will always be taken again, again, and again.
Yucca Mountain was a political solution to a scientific problem. It does not make sense to ship nuclear waste to Nevada when 96 of the 104 reactors are east of the Rockies. Nor does it make sense to store nuclear waste above the surrounding water table in the most recently formed and changing crust on earth. We should consider expanding the existing WIPP disposal site in New Mexico. It is several thousand feet under the earth in a salt deposit that's had no geological activity for a zillion years (or there abouts).
-- Robert Moen, www.energyplanUSA.com
I have an idea why don't we use that big hole in the ground to hold conventions. Since Mr Reid has not put his foot down and told the Pres that everytime he says something negative about Las Vegas it hurts us and looses jobs. Get a clue Mr Reid this state and city has been spending a fortune on fighting this dump and do you really think that the Feds are going to just walk away from this place after spending millions on this.
Comment removed by staff.
Comment removed by staff.
to all those non-nevadans...
who write pro yucca posts...
buzz off...
and...
kiss my proud liberal democrat nevadan derriere!!!
Harry Reid thinks that killing Yucca Mountain will guarantee his reelection. Reid assumes that the people of Nevada are hanging on every decision regarding the project.
Harry, take a look at the "Most Read" stories in the Las Vegas Sun (link at the top of this page). The first three are:
1. Prostitution, drug activity found at topless Rio pool
2. Craigslist clampdown leaves door open for sex ads
3. Ashton Kutcher to Digg Vegas
No Yucca Mountain stories even make the top ten.
No matter how one views the nuclear waste storage issue, this insight into the priorities of Las Vegans is troubling.
Mr. Moen,
Logical, reasonable, quality posts such as yours have no place on these forums.
Please try again, this time be sure and berate one or more of the other posters, use some technical vernacular that will force half these morons to look it up on google, and keep in mind the only people reading this crap are the ones least likely to be able to have any amount of influence over the related event.
Pete,
Drugs, hookers and Ashton Kutcher are far more important to people who cannot see past next weekend, let alone past the next generation.
If we leave the problem of long term nuclear waste storage to Las Vegans, the world is screwed.
Birdiedreamin or KING NIMBY or just plain old PLANET KILLER,
I will gladly take that waste recycle it and put its end product in the several other states that have similar geological conditions as Yucca. Please send me the billions of dollars that your state has squander on this project. Oh yea you can't because you used the same stupid logic that closed down Yucca as you did when you Nevadans all singed all those Adjustable mortgages.
hey jfarmer9...
word to the wise...
you aren't as smooth as you think you are!!!
Birdiedreamin,
A wise man would use prudence over greed or want when thinking about taking on debt. Just as a wise man should use logic or scientific facts rather than fear when thinking about closing down Yucca Mountain. Your state just lost a bunch of high paying jobs and you can't tell me you don't need it. You also harmed the planet by giving the anti-nukes the ability to say that the nuclear industry has no where safe to put its waste. That is why I refer to you as a planet killer. I have one thing left to say to my fellow comrades who are trying to save our planet. Regardless of Yucca finale out come:
Viva the Nuclear Renaissance,
Jfarmer9
hey jfarmer9...
take that snake oil you are selling...
and your filthy jobs...
and stick them in your ear...
yucca is fatally flawed...
it is a mountain that is prone to earthquakes...
it is above ground water...
it will leak...
period...
end of story...
so...
good luck on finding a new job...
don't let the proverbial door smack you in the derriere on your way out of the state...
and best o luck trying to sell your crap to another state!!!
I love how pro-dump types tout the safety of high-level nuclear waste. If it's really so safe, then why do they dispute the solution favored by Reid and many other state, federal and scientific leaders who simply want to leave the stuff where it's generated.
It's hard to argue that logic. Especially since there will always be nuke waste stored wherever they generate nuclear power.
If nothing else, that solution saves on transportation dangers and costs and buys us another 100 years or so to find a solution to the problem of storing one of the most hazardous substances man has ever created.
Good to see the idea of a nuke dump in Nevada on its last legs.
We have the word of Reid and the word of Obama on this. And neither of them has a history of lying - do they?
hey larry...
how pathetic are you???
hmmm???
without harry we would be screwed...
oh by the way...
how is your boy johnnie ensign doing these days???
hmmm???
man o man...
our poor poor terribly misguided republican friends sure are dumb!!!
Obama and Reid want to break US law.
We heard for years from the lib koolaid drinkers about Bush's law breaking and the need to impeach him.
Now silence from the koolaid group....oh...it was all about politics and nothing about prinicple.
Yep......hypocrites.
mywallet is totally right.
It seems like "Reid kills Yucca" everytime there's an election coming up. Gibbons is right, Reid needs to put up or shut up.
Why hasn't Reid repealed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act? Seriously, if Obama opposes the project, and Energy Department officials have said it's the administration's policy that Yucca Mountain would never be used, why does the licensing process continue? Obama did promise to pull the license out of the queue if he became POTUS.
I call bullcrap!
Yucca Lives!
If there is even a report of a leak, it will kill jobs.
mred,
Please read the nearly 10000 page design documents. The surface facilities can take what is basically an 11 earthquake. If this hit the site, Las Vegas would be leveled and 2 million people dead.
Further, the underground repository won't have a leak for millions of years. The scientist had to think up failures to make the analysis interesting. There will never be a leak in our lifetime or for 400 generations thereafter. Certainly, the nearby farming communities have nothing to fear.
Everyone seems to think idiots designed the repository. 10 National Laboratories, the USGS and the best engineering companyies in the world have created a place the envy of the world for disposing of nuclear waste. Instead, Reid wants hundreds of temporary above sites around the country to keep the waste for the next 100 years or more. Well, what happens then? The next "Reid" will just push off the problem again.
No doubt either "Reidism" or "Obamaism" will go down in history just as McCarthyism has.
Now, as someone who has lived in rural Nevada, in a town where my older neighbors say they can remember the clouds coming from the underground test site nearby, I personally would rather have Yucca here.
The biggest point of having the waste coming to Yucca Mountain is really the fact that Nevada is barely populated outside of Vegas or Reno, and is at least 70% Government owned. This is why it's still alive, and that's why it will probably end up staying alive for a while. At least while it's in our "backyard," it's going to cause harm to a LOT less people.
Who knows? Maybe we could end up figuring out a way to USE the waste that is dumped on us, from what I can remember, those nuclear cells still have about 50% of their power still left when they are 'disposed' of. That's energy that could possibly be used for the benefit of Nevada.
Has anyone who opposes the Yucca project even gone to the site? Taken a tour? Asked questions about it? I think everyone needs to sit back and educate themselves a bit. I know I do.