Spending Bill Will Have Interim Storage and Yucca Funding, Simpson Says

Funding for both an interim storage pilot program and the Yucca Mountain licensing process should be included in a possible omnibus appropriations bill in December, House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said yesterday at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va. Simpson, a longtime Yucca supporter, pointed to nuclear waste strategy as a possible area of contention between the House and Senate as the chambers aim to resolve their energy spending bill differences. In the past, according to Simpson, the House has required Yucca funding in any energy spending bill while Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has blocked any Yucca appropriations, resulting in a waste impasse. “Unfortunately, that strategy has constipated the system, and we need to deal with that,” Simpson said. “Both [Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)] and I are on the same page on this. We need both of these programs moving forward. Whether we can get and keep the money in for Yucca Mountain in the bill and Harry Reid prevents that from coming to the floor in an omnibus, I don’t know. But we will still challenge that and get the necessary funding to do both a pilot program and continue the NRC licensing for Yucca Mountain.”