In the wake of the introduction of the Interim Consolidated Storage Act earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) discussed the importance of the pending legislation and his concerns about the nuclear waste issue.
The legislation is designed to match up a region willing to volunteer as a host for an interim waste storage facility with communities around the country that have nuclear waste demanding a better storage solution in light of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada being caught up in political haggling.
“Progress on moving the nation’s nuclear waste to the designated site at Yucca Mountain has been stalled for years due to political posturing,” Issa said. “This failure of government to act has littered communities across the nation with high level nuclear waste stored in less than ideal conditions, including at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in my own district.”
Issa explained that the Interim Consolidated Storage Act provides for a creative solution to what many believe is a critical infrastructure need.
“The bill would neither replace Yucca Mountain – which remains our best bet for a permanent nuclear waste storage facility – nor would it take from Yucca Mountain’s funding, taking only from the interest that has accrued to the Nuclear Waste Fund,” Issa added. “Maintaining the status quo is not an option.”
The Yucca Mountain facility, which sits on federal land, was meant to be a deep geological repository for the nation’s nuclear waste; but with politicians, environmentalists and some Nevada residents fighting over the location for years, funding for it ended in 2011 and the government is still trying to get the project off the ground.
“The waste from the closed San Onofre nuclear plant sits near an active fault line, adjacent to the heavily trafficked Interstate 5 and the Pacific Ocean, and sandwiched between densely populated Orange and San Diego counties,” Issa said. “This is just one example out of 120, nationwide. Continuing to do nothing while the can is perpetually kicked down the road is no longer an option, and the Interim Consolidated Storage Act is a decisive, tangible step to circumvent political and bureaucratic gridlock, and it makes Americans safer in the process.”