Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) joined with the state’s full congressional delegation on Wednesday to demand the Department of Energy further study the potential earthquake risk to the location of the planned nuclear waste disposal facility under Yucca Mountain.
The letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry followed two earthquakes on July 4 and 5 in Southern California, about 100 miles southwest from Nye County, Nev., where the waste repository would be built.
“The Ridgecrest earthquakes emphasize the necessity of reexamining the seismic hazards present at Yucca Mountain and specifically their linkage to seismic events in California,” according to the letter, which notes that both Ridgecrest and Yucca Mountain are located within the Walker Lane-Eastern California Shear Zone. “Recent events, our experts at [the University of Nevada, Las Vegas] conclude, suggest that the risk of destructive earthquakes will increase in the future. DOE has improperly minimized these risks.”
The letter was signed by Sisolak and the state’s two senators and four congresspeople. All but Rep. Mark Amodei are Democrats.
Supporters of the Yucca Mountain approach say that federal research to date has shown it to be well placed against earthquakes. A safety evaluation report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission identified the potential for a “low-probability, high-risk” earthquake at one in 100 million, according to Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).
Nevada leaders at the state and federal levels have for decades opposed making their state home to other states’ nuclear waste, as directed in the 1987 amendment to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Even as they called for more earthquake research, Sisolak and the congressional delegation said the state remains committed to fighting any attempt to resume the long-frozen licensing for Yucca Mountain.
The Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission together requested about $150 million for the upcoming fiscal 2020 to resume licensing, which the Obama administration defunded in 2010. The House has already rejected that request in a multi-agency “minibus” funding bill. The Senate has yet to issue any appropriations legislation for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. Congress rejected similar requests for fiscal 2018 and 2019.
