Nevada Delegation Introduces Bill for Consent-Based Siting

The members of the Nevada delegation yesterday introduced legislation that would require a state to issue an official proclamation of consent in building a repository for spent nuclear fuel. Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), as well as Reps. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), introduced the “Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act,” which permits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to authorize construction of a nuclear waste repository only if the Secretary of Energy has secured written consent from the governor of the host state, affected units of local government, and affected Indian tribes. “For decades the federal government wasted billions of dollars attempting to recklessly move America’s deadly high-level nuclear waste to a dump at Yucca Mountain, despite the overwhelming objections of Nevadans,” Senate Minority Leader Reid said in a statement. “The Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act would ensure that no state’s voice may be silenced in the process of being considered for a nuclear waste repository. The game was rigged against Nevada when Congress gutted the original science-based siting process for a nuclear waste repository nearly three decades ago.  The Government made things worse by spending decades trying to force Yucca Mountain on the people of Nevada over their objections.  The Act introduced today will give a voice to state and local governments and save our country from making another costly mistake like Yucca Mountain.”