Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump skirted questions on the canceled plans for a nuclear waste repository Yucca Mountain in Nevada during an interview with local television station KSNV this week, saying he’s going to “take a very strong look at it.”
Trump was asked why Nevada should have to store nuclear waste at a repository planned about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, a city that draws 40 million tourists a year.
“As you know I’m very friendly with this area,” Trump said. “In fact, I have big enterprises here, especially my building and the hotel Trump International. I’m going to tell you, I’m going to take a look at it because so many people are talking about it. I came into town, and everyone’s talking about it, so I will take a very strong look at it, and the next time you interview me, we’ll talk about it for five minutes.”
News anchor Jim Snyder pressed on, asking if he believes building the repository would hurt Nevada’s tourism industry.
“Number one is you have to worry about safety, and it’s a little close to a major population, so I’m going to take a very strong look at it, and we’ll come very strongly one way or another,” Trump responded. “I will have an opinion.”
The Obama administration canceled the Yucca Mountain repository project in 2011, opting instead for a consent-based siting process that now envisions operation of consolidated interim facilities by 2025 and one or more permanent repositories by 2048. House Republicans have been gearing up for a potential Yucca Mountain licensing restart, though, prodding the Energy Department.
Snyder suggested to Trump that the country bury the nuclear waste “under the wall” and “that way nobody will even come close to it,” alluding to Trump’s plan to build a wall at the Mexican border.
“That’s your idea. I think you better -” Trump said before breaking off.
Longtime Yucca Mountain opponent Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tweeted about Trump’s appearance in the state, taking a shot at the billionaire for his pronunciation of “Nevada,” while also addressing Yucca Mountain.
“If Trump wants to come down from the penthouse his daddy bought him to lecture us on Nevada, he could at least pronounce it correctly,” Reid tweeted, which he followed with: “Trump told us we pronounce our state wrong; then he refused to take stance on Yucca. It’s pronounced Nev-AD-a and Yucca Mountain is dead.”
