Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak sent a letter Tuesday underscoring the state’s opposition to nuclear waste storage to the chairman and ranking member of a Senate panel in advance of a hearing on reviving the licensing process needed to open Yucca Mountain.
Nevada senators said Monday they plan to testify against the health risks and dangers of transporting and storing nuclear waste near Las Vegas when a Senate panel begins consideration of legislation to resume licensing on the Yucca Mountain repository this week.
A Senate hearing will be held next week on a bill that would jump start licensing hearings on the Department of Energy’s application to build a permanent nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Gov. Steve Sisolak — the first Democrat to hold the office in 20 years — reflects on his first 100 days in office.
House Democrats hailed their first 100 days as a success, Republicans drubbed it as a disaster, and freshman Susie Lee of Nevada recounted the whirlwind session.
Yucca Mountain advocates pushed Tuesday to get a House spending panel to double a White House proposal for federal funds to jump start licensing hearings for the proposed nuclear waste storage site in Nevada over strong objections from the state.
Nevada National Security Site officials say a facility housing weapons grade plutonium is safe from earthquake threats that could expose radiation to surrounding populations.
RENO — South Carolina says Nevada’s demand for the U.S. government to remove weapons-grade plutonium that was secretly trucked between the two states last year contradicts its claim that moving the radioactive material is dangerous.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry acknowledged Tuesday that the Nevada National Security Site — where weapons grade plutonium is being stored — and the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository are located in an area considered a seismic hazard.
Nevada Democrats in the House are seeking to use the appropriations process to block future Department of Energy transfers of plutonium to the state as well as administration efforts to jump start licensing hearings to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
