Dumped on

Friday, May 15, 2009 | midnight

Nevada’s persistence in fighting a federal government plan to build a nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas is finally paying off, thanks to a campaign promise kept by President Barack Obama and the enormous influence of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The budget proposal released last week by the president for Yucca Mountain in the coming fiscal year contains only enough money for the government to study alternative nuclear waste disposal opportunities and participate in an ongoing license proceeding before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

That proceeding, intended to consider an Energy Department license to build a permanent Yucca dump, doesn’t seem to be as threatening to Nevada’s interests now that funding is being choked off for this awful proposal backed by the nuclear power industry. But Nevada should continue to voice its opposition until the threat of a license is eliminated.

Although it would still require action from Congress to kill a Yucca repository, the president’s budget has pushed the dump proposal to the brink of extinction. The $196.8 million that the Obama administration would set aside represents more than a $90 million reduction in the plan’s budget and is a record low for the project.

The first sentence of Yucca’s budget states: “The administration proposes to eliminate the Yucca Mountain repository program.”

It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

What a difference it makes to have an occupant in the Oval Office who takes science into consideration, a marked contrast from Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, who wanted to ram a Yucca dump down Nevada’s throat. We look forward to the Obama administration’s efforts to put Yucca Mountain in the rear view mirror by studying more realistic options for the nation’s high-level nuclear waste.