Obama to zero out Yucca Mountain funding, pull license

Obama to zero out Yucca Mountain funding, pull license

www.lasvegassun.com

The president's intention to pull the license application -- a promise he made while campaigning in Nevada -- would be one of the most critical moves yet in stopping the proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

[of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] Reid's office released information from Obama's coming budget that showed: "The Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management will be merged into the Office of Nuclear Energy.

(visit the link for the full news article)

My first thought was OMG he kept a campaign promise!!? But after the shock subsided I was very happy for Nevada and all neighboring states. This is great news that nuclear waste will not be burried in our earth with the ignorant idea that it is somehow not harmful if we 'sweep it under the rug.'


www.lasvegassun.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting that he cut Yucca mountain before he formed an export panel deciding what to do with the nuclear waste. Although storing the waste in dry casks on site is far safer relative to coal waste, something in the end will have to be done with it. It would be a shame if we left the 99% of energy still remaining in the spent fuel to waste, in my opinion we should develop nuclear technology that burns up the remaining waste.

Presidential Memorandum -- Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future

Expanding our Nation's capacity to generate clean nuclear energy is crucial to our ability to combat climate change, enhance energy security, and increase economic prosperity. My Administration is undertaking substantial steps to expand the safe, secure, and responsible use of nuclear energy. These efforts are critical to accomplishing many of my Administration's most significant goals.

An important part of a sound, comprehensive, and long-term domestic nuclear energy strategy is a well-considered policy for managing used nuclear fuel and other aspects of the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Yet the Nation's approach, developed more than 20 years ago, to managing materials derived from nuclear activities, including nuclear fuel and nuclear waste, has not proven effective. Fortunately, over the past two decades scientists and engineers in our country and abroad have learned a great deal about effective strategies for managing nuclear material. My Administration is committed to using this advanced knowledge to meet the Government's obligation to dispose of our Nation's used nuclear material.

www.whitehouse.gov...

If it were my state I'd take the waste... at the request that my state get all the funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund which should add about 806 million dollars into the states coffers each year. Personally, the only thing that is in reality in question, is the repositories long term integrity. It's not as if there's a risk in transporting it, dry casks are extremely strong, & nor is it like it will leak anytime soon.

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, acting on a pledge to support nuclear power, will propose tripling U.S. loan guarantees for new reactors to more than $54 billion, an administration official said.

The additional loan guarantees in Obama’s budget, which will be released Feb. 1, are part of an effort to bolster nuclear-power production after the president called for doing so in his State of the Union address Jan. 27. In a conference call with reporters, Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a panel to find a solution to storing the waste generated by nuclear plants.

“Senate Republicans support building 100 new plants as quickly as possible -- we hope Democrats will join us in that effort, particularly now with the president’s call to action,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor yesterday. “And the president could start by moving forward on the nuclear loan guarantee program.”

www.bloomberg.com...#

[edit on 1/2/2010 by C0bzz]

I guess it pays to be Obamas lapdog(reid).

I for one, am glad they are considering this.
Vegas is my home, and for years we have been screaming about Yucca.
We dont want it here, at least not that close to us.

Cool. I never wanted the waste here anyway. I may be biased but I do think it was a bit idiotic to transport the stuff all the way here. Too many risks.

But what do I know.