Though President-elect Donald Trump has yet to offer an official stance on the canceled nuclear waste geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, speculation that the next administration will revive the project persists around Washington, D.C.
Sources close with the Trump transition team say his still-developing administration is exploring restarting the project licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which was canceled by the Obama administration.
A bipartisan panel of experts discussed Yucca’s prospects under Trump on Monday, at the St. Regis Hotel following an appearance from Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy. The discussion mostly focused on energy policy under the next administration, and Scott Segal, a partner at energy and power lobbying group Bracewell, addressed Yucca Mountain.
“I do think this administration is going to be very helpful to the nuclear sector, and I think some of the challenges in nuclear, including coming up with a solution for waste, revisiting Yucca and other issues, as well,” Segal said.
According to multiple media reports last week, the Department of Energy remains opposed to Yucca Mountain, describing the site as “unworkable” in briefing documents to Trump’s transition team. DOE has repeatedly used that term to describe the project.
Meanwhile, DOE is moving forward with plans to release a draft consent-based nuclear waste siting process before the end of 2016. The consent-based siting program is the Obama administration’s replacement for the Yucca Mountain project. That program emphasizes a need for consolidated interim nuclear waste storage leading up to the long-term development of a national repository.
