LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada's Democratic U.S. senators and representatives in Congress reintroduced the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act on Wednesday, gearing up for possible renewed efforts to put a nuclear dump in the state.
News releases late Wednesday morning announced the combined efforts in Washington, D.C., to ensure that Nevada's voice is heard. The effort came as Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for energy secretary, told senators during his confirmation hearing that he would promote all sources of American energy.
Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto posted on X, "Yucca Mountain is a failed project - and any nominee to the Department of Energy should be able to acknowledge that.
"Chris Wright's unwillingness to make that commitment to Nevada is disappointing. But let me be clear: Nevada is not, and will not be, a nuclear dumping ground," Cortez Masto said.
"I've said for years that Washington shouldn't have the unilateral authority to make decisions that will impact communities and the environment in the Silver State for generations to come," Cortez Masto said. "Nevadans have made it clear, Yucca Mountain is dead. This legislation will give local and Tribal leaders the seat at the table they deserve in decision-making about nuclear repositories in their communities – in Nevada and across the country. I will continue to fight to make sure Nevadans' voices are heard."
The bill would require the Secretary of Energy to secure written consent before moving ahead with a nuclear waste repository. The consent must come from:
- Governor of the host state
- Affected units of local government
- Each contiguous unit of local government primarily affected by the repository
- Affected Tribes
Senators Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, along with U.S. Representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee, have all fought to ensure Yucca Mountain remains dead, the news release said.
The Democrats successfully fought the Trump administration's early efforts to restart the Yucca Mountain licensing process by preventing funds from being included for the failed site in every final appropriations bill during the Trump presidency, the release said.
"Over more than three decades and at every step in the process, the Yucca Mountain project has faltered because Nevadans do not want nuclear waste stored in our state," Titus said. "We must codify this opposition into law to protect the health and safety of our communities and guarantee a process that requires the consent of state, local, and tribal leaders. Nevada is not a nuclear waste land. We don't produce nuclear waste, and we shouldn't be forced to store it."