House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) called Thursday’s release of the long-delayed Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report a “critical milestone in restoring America’s nuclear leadership.”
The report, which was scheduled for release in 2010 before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was court-ordered to close down its review of the site, found that Yucca Mountain in Nevada met the NRC’s requirements to be a suitable spot for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Blocked by President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) until an August 2013 U.S. Court of Appeals decision, the resumed review found the site met long-term nuclear waste repository requirements, include remaining safe for the federal threshold of one million years.
The site is located beneath a mountain, surrounded by federally-owned desert land about 100 miles from Las Vegas.
“Science, not politics, should determine Yucca’s course, and this report confirms that Yucca Mountain has met the safety requirements,” Upton said. “After a four-year delay, the public now has the benefit of the first independent safety assessment of Yucca Mountain, and can now have confidence that the repository would be in fact ‘safe for a million years.’ This safety evaluation embodies the objective, technical conclusions of our nation’s independent nuclear safety regulator, and it represents the culmination of thirty years and $15 billion worth of scientific work by DOE and seven of our national scientific labs.”
Upton said he is pleased the work has been completed and the country “can move forward with a permanent repository and get our nation’s nuclear future back on track.”