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Steve Marcus / FILE
The Obama administration promised Monday it would withdraw the application to open a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Thursday, March 4, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Related Document (.pdf)
Sun coverage
Related stories
- Energy Department withdraws application for Yucca Mountain (3-3-2010)
- Feds file request for suspension of Yucca Mountain license (2-1-2010)
- Obama to zero out Yucca Mountain funding, pull license (1-31-2010)
- Dying Yucca Mountain still has some life (1-30-2010)
- Obama administration: ‘We’re done with Yucca’ (1-29-2010)
- Friday announcement will unveil plans for panel on Yucca alternatives (1-28-2010)
- White House, Energy Department clash over Yucca Mountain cuts (1-14-2010)
- Report: Yucca Mountain costs double other alternatives (12-2-2009)
- Nuclear industry weighs in on nuke dump license (11-16-2009)
- In Nevada, nuclear raises touchy issues (11-14-2009)
- Feds to slash Yucca funds as project maintains life (11-9-2009
- 3 Las Vegans join state Commission on Nuclear Projects (11-5-2009)
The moment that Nevadans had awaited for decades arrived in a flash.
There, popping up on computer screens in offices in Washington and Carson City, was the news that a slim, 15-page legal document had been filed, taking the biggest step yet — one in a series of giant leaps this year — in dashing long-running government plans for a nuclear waste dump in the desert 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
“The United States Department of Energy hereby moves ... to withdraw its pending license application for a permanent geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.,” reads the opening line.
And then this: “with prejudice.” Those key words would make it extremely difficult for Yucca Mountain to ever be considered again for a nuclear waste repository.
“Aside from my wife, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Bruce Breslow, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, which is fighting the dump, said in an e-mail flash moments after the filing was made public.
President Barack Obama is making good on the promise he made two years ago to Nevadans to end the Yucca repository plan. The nuclear waste dump project has been starved of funding ever since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rose to power. But Obama, at Reid’s urging, could direct the Energy Department to halt the process and look at ways to deal with spent but still lethally radioactive fuel rods.
The Obama administration also announced Wednesday the first meeting of the commission to investigate alternatives to a Yucca repository. The commission, headed by Washington veterans Lee Hamilton and Brent Scrowcroft, will begin its 18-month task this month.
The move is a sizable win for Reid, who has led the Nevada delegation in fighting the dump, as he heads into a difficult re-election campaign this fall.
For most officials in Washington and Carson City, news that the legal filing would be coming Wednesday was no secret.
The Obama administration promised as much when it announced Feb. 1 that its fiscal 2011 budget would zero out funding. At that time, the Energy Department said it would pull the license within 30 days. Most elected officials had been briefed on the status.
But as Wednesday morning became Wednesday afternoon, Breslow, at his office in Carson City, became glued to the computer. The clock ticked toward 5 p.m. EST, and as he watched the minutes count down, he wondered when the unbelievable would happen.
Finally, shortly after close of business, the news broke.
Breslow dashed off copies of the document to the governor’s office and his advisory board headed by former Sen. Richard Bryan, a longtime opponent of the dump.
He jumped on a conference call with lawyers to parse every word and plot strategy for the state’s response.
“We’re so busy working on making sure that we succeed on the legal challenges we haven’t even had time to stop and say congratulations to anybody,” Breslow said. “There’s no Champagne here.”
In Washington, Reid, who had been briefed on the pending news, was busy running the Senate. When the announcement came, he was meeting in his office with Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign on other matters. The two sent out a joint release.
The move “marks the final stage of a battle that I’ve fought since arriving in Congress,” Reid said.
Ensign commended Obama administration officials “for holding up their end of the bargain.”
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley was deep in conversation with a constituent who had stopped by her office on an unrelated topic when the word came down.
Berkley, who has promised to lie down on railroad tracks to stop nuclear waste from being shipped to Nevada, said “Obama was 100 percent right to dump Yucca Mountain.
“President Obama pledged to Nevadans that he would end efforts to turn our state into a radioactive garbage dump, and now his blue-ribbon commission will begin its work to find an alternative,” she said.
Yet as is so often the case with Yucca Mountain, even this latest, landmark development does not spell the end of the long-sought project.
Several states and municipalities are suing the federal government, seeking to press on with the dump’s development. Some are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing board to allow them to intervene as parties to the deliberations.
Officials in South Carolina, Washington state and Georgia are seeking to reverse Obama’s decision, saying they want the nuclear waste that is being stored in their states to be shipped to Yucca Mountain as planned.
Plus, the powerful nuclear industry has not signaled its next move.
Democratic Rep. Dina Titus pledged to remain vigilant in fighting the dump. “While those who have their own interests in mind, not those of Nevada, will undoubtedly seek to slow down this process, we are well on our way to killing Yucca Mountain,” she said.
The commission’s licensing board will entertain these motions as it decides whether to grant the Energy Department’s request to withdraw the license. Hearings could be convened.
The parties can appeal the board’s decision to the full commission, which is headed by Gregory Jaczko, a former Reid staffer. The commission’s decisions can be further appealed in federal court.
Breslow said the Champagne is in the ice bucket, moving closer to the counter for uncorking. “When it’s finally done, I’ll let out something you can hear all the way there,” he said. “But not yet.”
Good news tonight!
The Anti-Nevada group wins again. But it wont last. since we dont need jobs then its time to cut off all of the extended jobless bennifits then all of the wife beaters (per Reid)can go back to California!
The article quotes Ensign as thanking Obama "for holding up their end of the bargain.".
What bargain? Who got what?
Sounds like Senator Ensign could be subpoenaed to testify in the court hearings to explain how Obama's decision really was a payoff.
A bargain with a Chicago politician has historically never ended well. The last person was the governor of Illinois who was impeached out of office.
Haha. All the radical right GOoPers don't know what to do. Yucca is dead, and all they have left is a frivolous law suit... But wait, I thought conservatives didn't like frivolous law suits? Oh yeah, that's only when those law suits aren't trying to overturn something passed by Democrats or something that stopped the "Screw Nevada Act" in its tracks.
This action puts one more stake in the heart of the USA's future. Fools on the loose.
To see facts of just how bad this is for Nevada, as well as our nation's future energy needs visit:
http://aBadReid.com
And click on the "Yucca Mountain" tab.
The reason Yucca is "killed" is because the law in 1998 required the US government to PAY nuclear utilities to store their nuclear wastes unless a long term storage facility was built. These payments to power utilities is now a huge profit center for them, that requires virtually no overhead.
Having a long term storage facility would mean that these rich corporations would no longer get billions of dollars in free money.
That is why a long term storage facility is dead. Profit not science.
After all, Nevada does not need any jobs. And Nevada does not have any responsibility to the rest of the US citizens that come hear and spend their money.
Maybe the press will tell the rest of the US, that your taxes and power bills are so high because of Nevada's decision to not help the US with this national problem. That will certainly motivate more people to come here to thanks us for our selfishness.
ATDLEFT crows "Haha. All the radical right GOoPers don't know what to do. Yucca is dead, and all they have left is a frivolous law suit..."
-----------------------------
So according to ATDLEFT and Democrats it frivolous for ratepayer to want the NWPA law followed and to get their $22 billion back all because Harry Reid wants to get Re-elected.
I get it
harry reid is a stud...
sue lowden doesn't have the experience or clout to shut down a crack house...
obama is a stud...
lived up to his word...
hey oscar...
you still sucking your thumb looking for an apology you short sighted fool...
but don't forget boys and girls...
we still need to change the statute...
and that is why we must re-elect harry the stud...
go harry go!!!
Seriously?!
Do some hiring, turn on the lights & start charging fees!
Like it or not, the Yucca Mountain Repository is an example of Nevada being able to use one of it's natural resources to improve people's lives.
Seriously?!
Do some hiring, turn on the lights & start charging fees!
Like it or not, this is an example of Nevada being able to use one of it's natural resources to improve people's lives.
Haha. The radical righties are throwing a fit and defending their frivolous law suits with faulty facts. The state accepted no money for Yucca because we wanted it gone. It's too bad this place was being built, but it's irresponsible to build a facility like this on an active fault line less than 100 miles from Las Vegas.
Like it or not, Yucca is done! Thank goodness President Obama and Senator Reid did what was right for Nevada and aren't buying the political gimmicks from politicians in other states that can't handle their own nuclear waste.
Befuddled BOB635 mistakenly said "The reason Yucca is "killed" is because the law in 1998 required the US government to PAY nuclear utilities to store their nuclear wastes unless a long term storage facility was built.
----------------------------
No the law required the Utilities to pay the Federal Government to cover the cost of emplacement of the Spent fuel in the Yucca repository.
So far the Utilities have paid Obama and Reid $22 billion for the Yucca project. Along with getting the money this law also requires the DOE to take possession of the fuel.
Obama and Reid are using most of the money on other ongoing federal operations.
Obama and Reid are stopping Yucca in violation of the NWPA and NOT giving any of the $22 billion back.
The Utilities are out $22 billion.
Worse is the fact that the real high level waste is not the commerical spent fuel - It is the classified High Level Waste from the DOE nuclear weapon complex and the Spent Naval fuel that is far more "hot".
-----------------------------------
What the Utilities wanted to do before Jimmy Carter got involved was to reprocess the Waste.
The federal government is the entity that started this process now Obama and Reid want to want to run and hide from the their failed decisions.
The private sector would have done the work years ago but the Federal government got in the way.
But the "science is good".
Oh, that only works for those with global warming fantasies. Nice to know that Bezerkley is there to keep the lights on for us though. Im sure we can count on that.
Stupid, stupid stupid....
This could have been a huge bonanza for Nevada in terms of jobs, construction contracts, fees, even taxes paid by out of state entities.
Stupid, stupid, stupid....
Lisa Mascaro, are you writing a novel or a news article?????
Wonder - Are these the same folks screaming of loss of jobs, revenue, higher taxes, etc. etc.??
Gee, one of the sure things that would have closed a budget crisis in Nev. and the are so gleeful... Yep same folks that want the Government to cover everything and wonder 'Where did my freedom go"
"Wonder - Are these the same folks screaming of loss of jobs, revenue, higher taxes, etc. etc.??"
One has to wonder why they can't "connect the dots".
This is Nevada's shame, brought to us by foes of freedom, foes of capitalism, foes of The United States of America, AKA Reid et al.
Reid, Berkley, Titus. These people are sick. Taking delight in costing the state over 2000 permanent jobs, and billions in economic stimulus that Yucca Mtn. would have provided.
The science, the economics, and the national security aspects all run counter to what these people are spouting.
Time for the Three Stooges to find a new career!
DOE lawyers reluctantly admit the statute "requires that the Secretary "MUST submit an Application for "Construction Authorization."" But then the DOE lawyer spends pages saying they do not have CONTINUE the construction authorization process.
Here is what DOE Lawyers are arguing quote "Settled law in this area directs the NRC to defer to the direction of policy makers within the Executive branch."
In this case the Policymaker is Obama.
When Chu was head of a DOE lab and when he was approved for DOE Secretary he stated that Yucca was in the Public Interest.
But DOE argued in the withdraw that "It [The NWPA] does not require the Secretary to continue with an application processing if the Secretary decides that action is contrary to Public Interest."
Meaning the public interest of Obama re-electing Harry Reid.
This is the kind of rubbish that the Federal courts will reject out of hand.
There is not one shred, not one wit of technical basis provided to stop the project.
No Record of Decision, no Environmental Impact Statement, nothing that must accompany a Federal decision of this kind.
The only Public Interest is Harry Reid's re-election.
Let the FOIA requests begin
What would nevada do with 2000 engineering positions anyway?
All to appease people who will receive more radiation on a cross-country flight then they would from yucca.
@Gordon:
Newsflash: That skimpy legal brief was written by DOE general counsel lawyers who, in many respects, were grasping at straws.
If you think that brief is on solid legal ground, I've got some land in Pahrump to sell you (don't worry about that whole repository thing).
I recommend that you look into some NRC case law, and at their guidelines and regulatory precedents, before you jump to such conclusions.
You will want to look especially at the precedents and case law surrounding withdrawal of an application "with prejudice." I think you'll find that things are not as cut and dried as you so obviously want them to be.
@ Lisa Mascaro:
You have long been little more than a State propagandist when it comes to this issue.
Shame on you for violating, yet again, the journalistic duty to report the facts objectively.
If you take pleasure in hinting that "it's in the bag" because the Chairman of an ostensibly INDEPENDENT regulatory agency was once a staffer for Harry Reid, then you need to be deeply ashamed of yourself.
If any influence is exerted by Reid to compel the Chairman to decide any appeal of the ASLB's decision in Nevada's favor, then you are endorsing a Devil's bargain indeed. That would be nothing less than the Executive or Legislative branch tampering with the Judiciary. You may as well endorse individual politicians exerting influence over Supreme Court judges.
Loathsome and wretched. Is it any wonder that people no longer trust the Fourth Estate?
@Gordon:
That's funny, thinking that the DOE's flimsy arguments prove that they aren't violating the law. Did you think you'd find them admitting that their actions were contrary to the NWPA, legal precedent, or the consistution itself?!
Here's a little more comprehensive and legitimate legal argument about the legal merits of DOE's actions: the state of Washington's motion to counter DOE actions. Read THAT. http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home...
/About_the_Office/Divisions/Ecology/Hanford/PetitionToInterveneFINAL.pdf
http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Home...
(trying again with the link)
Click below to watch a web video about how Senator Reid has been widely credited for killing Yucca Mounain.
http://www.harryreid.com/ee/index.php/ne...
I am an Internet reader of the Sun who happens to live in Idaho Falls, Idaho, about 40 miles to the East of where great quantities of nuclear wastes are *temporarily stored.
I have no opinion per se regarding nuclear waste, as it would be superficial on my part. It (the waste) is as much a necessary evil as the government is. As far as a (vocal) number of Nevada residents not wanting it "....in my backyard!", I AM sympathetic to that.
My concern is on an entirely different level. Many years ago the state of Idaho was told "We (i.e. the government) need to place low- to mid-(!?!)level nuclear waste in the desert West of Idaho Falls." Understandable (see paragraph directly above this one.) "This storage will be ONLY until we (i.e. the government) develop a ?LONG TERM? containment facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada." (aka; 'TRUST me; I'm with the government!')
Now, I like, nay, I LOVE Nevada! For decades now I have made frequent, non-deductible "donations" to most of the larger casinos (and regret not ONE highly enjoyable moment of it, either!) and I would not wish to do anything to harm either its land OR its residents.
However, with the government now choosing to abandon the Yucca Mountain project, the aforementioned waste (and I'm sure MUCH more to come into Idaho from all over the country [world?]) will remain in this temporary storage which, coincidentally, is located over an active aquifer. This aquifer also extends into the northern part of Nevada.
Nuclear waste is a given. We cannot survive as a society without it. Still, would it not be better stored in a manner so that it does not contaminate both the land our childrens' childrens' GRANDchildren must live on, as well as the water they must drink to survive?
My SOLE objection to it remaining in Idaho is that of its "temporary storage". Vast amounts of time, manpower, and money have been spent on the Yucca Mountain project to date. Now, with its closure, will we go with the 1950s' governmental advice of "Duck and Cover"?
I have NEVER hugged a tree in my entire life, but can't those of us who are alive NOW have at least a modicum of compassion for the generations who will follow us?
To finish on an up note; at least leaving all this waste in temporary storage in Idaho should get the Snake River Two-Headed Blind Mutant Rainbow Trout removed from the Endangered Species List! (I accept that we must HAVE nuclear waste! That doesn't mean I have to LIKE it!
* politicese for placed in a hole in the ground!
I would suggest that anyone who questions the science on evolution and/or climate change should be questioning the wisdom of locating a nuclear waste dump here because the scientific evidence in favor of the latter is far, far, far weaker than the scientific evidence for the previous two. In other words, isn't it strange that it's mostly Reid critics, who tend to be on the right-wing side of things, and therefore condone the abuse of science and intelligence in which their anti-reality allies have engaged, who now think scientists who like nuclear waste are all perfect?
Mr. Green: What a simpleminded view of the world. Are you playing the old, ugly partisan game of excusing irresponsible beliefs of your own by ascribing similar foolishness on the "other side"? Good for you then, you're now as stupid as skeptics of evolution and climate science!
Let me blow your mind: I'm a left-leaning independent who almost always votes D and a pro-nuke environmentalist. I oppose this action because it it founded on the SAME abuse of the Constitution that Bush/Cheney engaged in when they lied to America, spied on America, ignored and abused science, and held themselves above the law and international treaties on torture. I won't support politicians of any party who ignore science and flout the rule of law for political power.
Your worldview is a dangerous myth, Mr. Green. Don't be proud to be a pawn.
Actually:
What I read was that it's illogical, to argue that (all) science is so deeply flawed, that evoloution and climate change data is not to be believed, and then turn around and argue that the weak data regarding the impact and safety of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mtn is unimpeachable.
In other words- They are STILL ignoring the safety aspect, and using job creation to garner support...but they are basing that attempt, in a shaky foundation.
The only thing irresponsible, would be for us to re-invest in Yucca Mountain, and push ahead a flawed plan. I didn't see him say THAT in his post, at all.
Just one more way for our government to screw Nevada over..I say go for Yucca Mountain. Nevada can not depend on gambling alone or the KatHouses in Moundhouse. We need to find other means to keep this state a float. All these politicians are for the power and glory they do not care for the citizens in this great country. I say it is time to FIRE them ALL and find ones that are not for glory and power..or is that just a myth?
Only a handful of idiots favor Yucca Mountain.
YUCCA IS DEAD.
THANK YOU, HARRY REID.
Yucca will never shut down simpletons from california. teamster, have you ever been to yucca mt or know what goes on their?
Like I said, only a handful of idiots still
favor Yucca Mountain.
Yucca is DEAD,DEAD,DEAD.
Is Yucca Mountain the reason Lowden increases her lead over Reid...
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Sue Lowden, ex-chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, with a 51% to 38% lead on Reid.
Sue Lowden doesn't have a snowball's chance in
hell against the MIGHTY HARRY REID.
Scary Sue is Nevada's Leona Helmsley.
She took a $200,000 bonus after firing 100+ workers from her casino.
That sounds like something all those corrupt Wall Street bankers would do!
No matter how much Liberals like Kevin Sandoval aka ksand666 calls Sue Lowden names and tries to demonize her, Sue has increased her lead over Harry...
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Sue Lowden, ex-chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, with a 51% to 38% lead on Harry Reid.
Name callers have no place in public discourse.