HOUSE ENERGY PUSHES YUCCA AT BLUE RIBBON PANEL HEARING

Following a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday on the Blue Ribbon Commission’s report on nuclear waste disposal, subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said that the panel would continue to push for Yucca Mountain. “My focus is to get Yucca Mountain back on track so that we have what the Blue Ribbon Commission says we need, which is long-term geologic storage. If I have to leverage the legislative process to make that happen, that’s what I’ll do,” Shimkus told reporters following the hearing. The Blue Ribbon panel has urged prompt action from Congress on a number of fronts, including establishment of a new waste management organization and a consent-based approach to facility siting. While Shimkus said he supported many of the BRC’s recommendations, he suggested he would oppose any legislation that did not support Yucca, noting that the shuttered repository project has received broad support in the House. “It takes two to tango. I clearly highlighted the Senate’s failure to move forward [on Yucca Mountain] with pure consensus from the House, over and over. So for them to move legislation, obviously it would have to move through the House.”