Funding continues for Yucca Mountain project

The combination of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nevada) opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, and President Barack Obama’s priorities, has made the continuation of the project highly unlikely. Washington insiders know, however, that there are few things in life more difficult than killing an on-going government program. AP reports that the project — 25 years and $13.5 billion in the making — has been given $288 million from Congress in February for the development of the site legally designated to hold the U.S. radioactive waste. It was about $100 million less than what the Bush administration requested, but still enough for a staff of several hundred people to continue work.

Last week, President Barack Obama proposed $196.8 million in 2010 funding for Yucca Mountain, an all-time low.

The money flows despite Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s recent declaration that the desert mountain ninety miles from Las Vegas is no longer considered an option for radioactive waste storage. Obama’s proposed budget repeats the assertion, making good on an oft-repeated campaign promise to swing-state Nevada.

Experts say Yucca Mountain has not disappeared from the budget for reasons both practical and political. Neither Reid nor the president has tried to hammer the nail in the coffin. Neither is pushing for a change to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the bill that as amended in 1987 requires the government to store spent fuel from nuclear power plants under an ancient volcanic ridge called Yucca Mountain.

Reid’s office said the first step is finding another home for the radioactive waste. “The law will eventually have to be changed to completely kill Yucca,” Reid spokesman Jon Summers said. “However there’s no rush to do so until we have an alternative plan for dealing with nuclear waste in place.”

To that end, Reid and Chu have announced a commission to study nuclear waste storage alternatives and make recommendations to the Energy Department — as long as those recommendations don’t include Yucca Mountain. While the Obama administration has proposed a dramatic cut in the project’s budget, it also plans to continue the process of licensing the underground storage site. The proposed budget actually increased funding for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which can take up to four years deliberating on the license application.

On Wednesday, Yucca Mountain supporters were dealt a blow when it was announced that Gregory Jaczko, a close Reid ally, was in line to chair the commission. Still, the decision to continue with the licensing leaves