With the ink barely dry on last week's stunning election victory for Donald Trump, reports from Washington indicate that members of the president elect's transition team are stirring up renewed consideration for long-term nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
More than just the resident at the White House is about to change. The most vocal opponent of the Yucca Mountain proposal, Senator Harry Reid, a democrat from Nevada, is retiring. The Republican party maintained control of the two chambers of Congress. And Trump aides are saying it is time to revisit the issues.
The comments from Trump's team were unattributed. However, the buzz was loud enough for Sen. Reid to respond. “It's going to be expensive and they'll get nothing for it,” Reid said at a press conference on Monday.
It remains to be seen whether or not Trump's get-it-done business ethos includes a headstrong position on Yucca Mountain or not. Given the increasing accumulation of spent nuclear fuel stored at nuclear power plants – totaling about 70,000 metric tons at this point – Congressman John Shimkus, R-Ill., who will soon be the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, has said it is time to get “this monkey off our back,” referring to hazardous nuclear waste, Bloomberg reported.
The fight to stop the project may also be fading, according to Bloomberg intelligence analyst Rob Barnett, who said that Democrats in Washington will be thinking they have more important stands to make in Washington than taking up the cause of Yucca Mountain. “Doubtful anybody's going to fall on a sword to protect Yucca,” Barnett said.