Simpson also reiterated yesterday at the Bipartisan Policy Center event that Yucca Mountain must be included in any budget negotiations for interim storage of nuclear waste to go forward. Simpson has voiced support in the past for both Yucca Mountain and interim storage, but with the caveat that there must be progress on the underground nuclear waste storage site in Nevada. “We have always said from our side, that if you’re willing to put money in for Yucca Mountain, we will go along with you on a consent based pilot program,” the lawmaker said. “They have never been able to do get that, so consequently, we have never been able to do an interim storage pilot program. And we’ve just locked heads over that. I’m hopeful this year that we will be able to keep money in the conference report that has money for both Yucca Mountain for the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue the licensing process and do a consent-based. The reality is, if we were to open Yucca Mountain tomorrow, it would be filled. So, we are going to have to do something beyond that.”
With the announcement late Monday night that congressional leaders and the White House have reached agreement on a two-year budget deal, Simpson said yesterday he believes an energy and water appropriations bill for fiscal 2016 “could get done quickly.” He cautioned, though, that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could block the Yucca appropriations as he has done in the past. Simpson also warned that without the Yucca funds, there will be no authorization for interim storage. “My authorizers feel like, if we do anything but Yucca Mountain, it takes pressure off of Yucca Mountain, and they want to keep pressure on Yucca Mountain because this is the law of the land. We all know that Yucca Mountain was not mothballed because of the science behind it. It was mothballed for political reasons.”
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