US Senate Approves Yucca Mountain Resolution

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The US senate has given the worldwide nuclear industry a huge boost by approving the designation of Yucca Mountain, Nevada as the national repository for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Approval of the resolution, which was passed without a formal vote, paves the way for the Department of Energy to prepare and file a licence application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and begin to develop a transport policy and plan. The House of Representatives has already overwhelmingly approved the resolution, and the Senate decision means both houses of Congress have now formally over-ruled objections by the state of Nevada to the nomination of the site by President George Bush. Senate consent came immediately after senators approved by a margin of 60 to 39 a 'motion to proceed' to bring the resolution to the floor. By mutual agreement between senate leaders, there was no recorded final vote on the resolution itself. Joe Colvin, the president and CEO of the US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), said in a reaction 'this is a great day for US energy security and common sense environmentalism.' He added ' The Senate's approval for the Yucca Mountain resolution is a clear signal of continued congressional support for nuclear energy and the reliable, clean electricity it supplies to one of every five American homes and businesses.

 

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