Connecticut governor urges halt to Yucca shutdown

With all the players awaiting a decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the fate of the Yucca Mountain site, the state of Connecticut is adding a voice of protest against the shutdown.

Gov. Jodi Rell has sent a letter asking Energy Secretary Steven Chu to stop dismantling the nuclear waste repository program until the NRC and the U.S. Court of Appeals can rule on the legality of the termination.

Electricity ratepayers in Connecticut have paid $376 million into a repository construction fund through March of this year, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute. The state is home to two operating nuclear reactors and a decommissioned one.

"To now reverse developing Yucca Mountain as a permanent storage site as a matter of policy is a disservice to Connecticut ratepayers, who continue to be burdened by DOE's delay in proceeding with its license application," wrote Rell, who is a Republican.

The NRC commissioners are expected to rule soon whether the Department of Energy can withdraw a 2-year-old license request, a move that could shut the door for good on Yucca Mountain. The Nevada site long had been the government's preferred location for nuclear waste burial until President Barack Obama reversed course.

Washington and South Carolina are other states that are protesting the Obama administration's position on Yucca Mountain, which came as a result of pressure from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The administration established the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future earlier this year to recommend alternatives. A report is due next year.