House Republicans still pushing for Yucca Mountain dump

As reported by Hannah Northey of E&E Daily, U.S. House Economy and the Environment Subcommittee Chair Shimkus (R-IL) is demanding a revival of (or, more appropriately, a relapse into) the Yucca Mountain dump as part of overall radioactive waste legislation.

The article quotes Rep. Shimkus, who is displeased that his Senate Republican counterparts have not yet included Yucca's revival in their own bill:

"It's about time the senators had to either address the issues of their states, whether that's defense waste or spent nuclear fuel, and be part of the debate," Shimkus said. "We're not moving interim storage without any assurance that Yucca is moving forward. That's pretty clear." (emphasis added)

However, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has made it clear that a pro-Yucca dump amendment would be introduced to the Senate bill, once it reaches the floor for debate. U.S. Sen. Reid (D-NV), the Senate Democratic Leader, can be expected to fight that amendment. Reid has successfully protected Nevada against the proposed Yucca dump for nearly 30 years, ever since the "Screw Nevada bill" of 1987, when he was a rookie Senator.