January

January 26, 2018 — Nevada raises new concerns about Yucca Mountain licensing plan — WASHINGTON: Nevada has detailed fresh concerns about plans to expedite licensing of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository in a report that was delivered by the state’s congressional delegation to key House members on Friday. Rep. Dina Titus, D–Nev., distributed the report to lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce and the House Appropriation committees asking that they review the state’s report before moving forward on the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF]

January 25, 2018 — In D.C., Goodman highlights dangers of transporting nuclear waste — Nuclear waste coming to Nevada from all corners of the country would be dangerous, Las Vegas' mayor told bipartisan city leaders in Washington, D.C. Mayor Carolyn Goodman was in the capital for the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meetings. She spoke to fellow members about the nation's aging infrastructure and other risks associated with bringing nuclear waste to Nevada, where a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain has been a political football for years. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation's infrastructure an average D+ rating — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]
[Related Information — Presentation to U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting, Re: Yucca Mountain Update and Transportation Impacts – Robert J. Halstead, State of Nevada ]

January 23, 2018 — California says goodbye to its last nuclear power plant. What will replace it? — energyexchange

January 19, 2018 — Comments on Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017, H.R. 3053 — State of Nevada

January 19, 2018 —The Indy Asks: Can Heller, as Reid did, stop Yucca? — Dean Heller claims he's the only barrier between Nevadans and the revival of Yucca Mountain as a repository for nuclear waste. The question is whether he can be that bulwark during a difficult re–election campaign. "I am the only person standing between Yucca Mountain happening and not happening. I am the only person that can stop that," he told rural Nevada newspapers in October, according to the Pahrump Valley Times — thenevadaindependent.com [Print PDF]

January 11, 2018 — Connecticut lawmakers: 'Status quo unacceptable' on nuclear waste policy — Waterford : All the nuclear fuel spent creating electricity at the Millstone Power Station since the 1970s remains on site – either in cooling pools that reduce radioactivity, or entombed in 31 massive, leak–tight concrete and steel canisters. But that fuel is supposed to be about 2,700 miles west of Waterford, according to federal law. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 tasked the Department of Energy with siting, building and maintaining an underground repository for the nation's spent nuclear fuel. In 1987, lawmakers designated Yucca Mountain, a dry, remote spot in Nevada, as the permanent home for the country's nuclear waste — theday.com [Print PDF]

February

February 27, 2018 — Panel takes preliminary step in process to revive Yucca Mountain — ROCKVILLE, Md.: A federal advisory panel took a preliminary step Tuesday in a lengthy process to determine if a nuclear waste repository should be built at Yucca Mountain. The panel meeting at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came despite a lack of federal funding for the project and repeated vows by Nevada officials to fight the process — Las Vegas Review Journal

February 27, 2018 — Nuclear waste mountains just go on growing — climatenewsnetwork.net

February 23, 2018 — OPINION: Setting the record straight on Yucca Mountain — [By Robert Halstead - ED Agency For Nuclear Projects, State of Nevada] Orrin J. H. Johnson’s opinion column, “The wrong way to make the right argument on Yucca Mountain,” Nevada Independent, Feb. 20, is wrong on the facts — thenevadaindependent.com [Print Pdf]

February 16, 2018 — Nevada OKs $5.1M legal contract for Yucca Mountain fight — CARSON CITY: Nevada’s Board of Examiners has approved a $5.1 million contract with an outside legal team to help fight President Donald Trump’s proposal to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas — Las Vegas Review Journal [More Coverage — Nevada Appeal]

February 12, 2018 — Trump budget contains $120M to restart licensing of Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump renewed his commitment to restart licensing on the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear repository in Nevada on Monday with a funding request tucked into a $4.4 trillion budget blueprint. Trump included $120 million to restart licensing on the geologic site north of Las Vegas, as well as to establish an interim storage program to address the growing stockpile of nuclear waste produced by power plants in states across the nation — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF]

February 05, 2018 — First transfer of nuclear waste made at San Onofre — Workers at the now–shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) have completed the first transfer of a canister filled with nuclear waste to a newly constructed storage facility within the site’s premises — sandiegouniontribune.com

February 03, 2018 — U.S. utility commissioners call for action on used nuke fuel — Two decades after the deadline passed for the U.S. government to start accepting nuclear waste for disposal, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) wants lawmakers to support funding for the review process for the Yucca Mountain repository license application. The U.S. Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 established federal responsibility for all civilian–used nuclear fuel and mandated the government begin removing used fuel from nuclear facilities by 1998 for disposal in a federal facility — kallanishenergy.com

February 02, 2018 — Proposed Amendments Would Store High-Level Radioactive Waste in New Mexico and West Texas and Accelerate Yucca Mountain Licensing — Proposed amendments to the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act would accelerate two proposals to bring some of the nation’s commercial high-level radioactive waste to New Mexico and West Texas. Congressman John Shimkus introduced the proposed amendments which would accelerate thousands of shipments of spent fuel rods on trucks, rail, and barges. The bill, numbered H.R. 3053, would also restart the forced licensing of Yucca Mountain, a Department of Energy (DOE) site located 90 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, in a seismic and volcano-ridden area — nuclearactive.org

March

March 22, 2018 — Budget Bill Excludes Money for Yucca Nuclear Waste Dump — A budget bill passed by the House does not include money for work to develop and build a nuclear waste dump outside Las Vegas. President Donald Trump has proposed reviving a long-stalled nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, 100 miles from Las Vegas. The state's Republican governor and Nevada lawmakers from both parties oppose the plan — KTVN 2 Reno

March 20, 2018 — Update: Yucca Mountain Repository and Transportation Impacts — Robert J. Halstead Office of the Governor Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects [36 Page PDF – 4.7MB]

March 19, 2018 — Nevada senators fight Yucca Mountain restart on two fronts — WASHINGTON: Trump administration efforts to revive the licensing process for a nuclear waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain are being met with stiff resistance from Nevada’s senators. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Monday with questions about funding proposed in fiscal 2019 budget to restart the licensing process, which was halted in 2011 by the Obama administration — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF] [More Coverage]

March 14, 2018 — SUN EDITORIAL: Building a nuclear waste dump in Nevada is still the wrong thing to do — During a recent congressional discussion on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois said, “There’s always hope that the elected leaders will do the right thing.” He’s right. There certainly is hope that Congress and the Trump administration will abandon the project, close the door on any future discussion of it and end this horrific threat to Nevada forever and ever, amen, to borrow a line from a song — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

March 13, 2018 — Private Yucca meeting upsets Nevada officials — WASHINGTON: A March meeting between Nye County officials and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairwoman, who would oversee any future proceeding to determine if Yucca Mountain is safe for nuclear waste storage, drew the ire of Nevada and its lawmakers on Tuesday. A Nye County spokesman described the March 5 meeting as nothing more than an introduction and short conversation with NRC Chairwoman Kristine Svinicki, but the state objected to the private meeting because the federal agency must adjudicate challenges to a license to construct a repository at Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF]

March 08, 2018 — Yucca Mountain Legislative Action, Budget Request Expected Soon — The Department of Energy wants to store high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain for 100,000 years. The next few weeks might give an indication of the likelihood of that happening. Regulatory hearings, action in Congress, and the funding request for work at Yucca Mountain have happened or are expected soon, according to Bob Halstead, head of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects — knpr.org 16:56

March 05, 2018 — Shimkus, House proponents call for passage of Yucca bill — Rep. John Shimkus led a bipartisan group of speakers on the House floor Monday evening who made a case for passing the Illinois Republican’s bill to restart the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Shimkus discussed the broader issue of the need for Congress to address nuclear waste, which is being kept in 129 locations in 39 states, while nine other speakers talked about the waste management and storage problems in their respective states. “This issue has national support,” Shimkus said noting that members from Oregon, Tennessee, Minnesota, Texas, California, Georgia and Connecticut spoke in favor of his bill — thenevadaindependent.com [Print PDF]

March 02, 2018 — NRC Begins Process for New Mexico to Receive All U.S. Commercial High-Level Nuclear Waste — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday accepted Holtec International’s application to store up to 100,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods from the more than 100 U.S. commercial nuclear reactors at a site between Carlsbad and Hobbs. That action begins a multi-year process that will include public meetings in New Mexico, potentially in April, and quasi-legal hearings, which may occur in 2019. Holtec’s application presumes that spent fuel could be stored for 120 years — krwg.org [More coverage — lamonitor.com]

March 01, 2018 — Nevada, keep up the fight against nuclear waste: RGJ Editorial Board — RGJ.com

April

April 27, 2018 — The latest on Yucca Mountain – an interview with Robert Halstead [17.41] — .knvc.org
[External Link]

April 26, 2018 — House bill wants study of alternative uses for Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON - A House bill expected to be filed Thursday would prohibit the Energy Department from taking any action to license Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository until the federal government studies alternative uses for the Nevada site. Rep. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., the bill's sponsor, said the legislation would direct the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a study on alternative uses, including defense activities like a command facility for unmanned aircraft — Las Vegas Review Journal

April 12, 2018 — Chairman promises House vote on Yucca Mountain funding — WASHINGTON: A House committee chairman on Thursday vowed to take a bill to fund licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository to the floor of the House for a vote. “We will get Yucca legislation to the floor,” predicted Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “We want to get it to the president’s desk.” He did not provide a timetable — By Gary Martin Review-Journal Washington Bureau

April 11, 2018 — Senators question Yucca Mountain in DOE’s proposed budget — WASHINGTON: Energy Secretary Rick Perry appeared before a skeptical Senate panel Wednesday to defend his $30 billion budget proposal, which includes money for licensing of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada — Las Vegas Review Journal

April 10, 2018 — Las Vegas board to continue fight against Yucca Mountain — Fighting efforts to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and lobbying to continue funding the Brand USA international tourism marketing program will be top federal legislative priorities of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for the rest of 2018 — Las Vegas Review Journal

April 07, 2018 — Activists protest Holtech's proposed nuclear waste storage facility near Carlsbad — currentargus.com

May

May 29, 2018 — The federal government has long treated Nevada as a dumping ground, and it’s not just Yucca Mountain — Nevadans can be forgiven for thinking they are in an endless loop of “The Walking Dead” TV series. Their least favorite zombie federal project refuses to die. In 2010, Congress had abandoned plans to turn Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into the nation’s only federal dump for nuclear waste so radioactive it requires permanent isolation. And the House recently voted by a wide margin to resume these efforts — theconversation.com [Print PDF]

May 29, 2018 — Concerns about government bullying and safety were the top reasons for those opposing the House Yucca bill — Only a small slice of House membership joined the Nevada delegation earlier this month in voting against legislation to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. But in siding with the Battle Born State, those lawmakers revealed how the policy fight touches nerves around the country — thenevadaindependent.com [Print PDF]

May 27, 2018 — Debate breaks out over nuclear waste shipments — The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations debated Thursday whether to use a site in southeast New Mexico to temporarily store the nation’s nuclear waste. Heated words were exchanged as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tried to block funding for a nuclear waste interim storage program touted by Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) — lamonitor.com [Print PDF]

May 24, 2018 — Senate panel again drops Yucca Mountain licensing funding from budget — WASHINGTON: Senate appropriators on Thursday deleted a Trump administration budget request for $120 million to restart licensing on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, setting up another impasse with the House. A similar stalemate shelved the controversial project last year — Las Vegas Review Journal

May 11, 2018 — House passes Yucca bill, but its future is uncertain as Heller pledges to stop it in the Senate — Once again, Nevada finds itself in a fight with the rest of the nation over a renewed effort to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The House passed a bill sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, that would restart the process for building the project on a 340 to 72 vote. All four of Nevada’s House members voted against the measure — thenevadaindependent.com

May 10, 2018 — House passes bill to revive Yucca Mountain licensing — WASHINGTON: Howls of protests by Nevada’s bipartisan congressional delegation were drowned out Thursday when the House voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill that would revive the licensing process on the Department of Energy’s application to open Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Review Journal [Print PDF] [More Coverage — Nevada’s congressional group unites against Yucca Mountain bill]

May 06, 2018 — Recycling nuclear waste is not the win-win it seems like it should be — The idea of turning Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste reprocessing facility, which some Nevadans are proposing, sounds wonderful . . . If only it were that neat and simple — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

May 03, 2018 — Vote likely next week on bill to resume Yucca Mountain licensing process — PAHRUMP: Legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to resume its license application process to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain could see a House vote this week — a prospect that was met Thursday with mixed reaction in Nevada — Las Vegas Review Journal

May 03, 2018 — Nuclear panel chair: ‘I remain adamantly opposed’ to Yucca Mountain — The chairman of the state interim legislative Committee on High-Level Radioactive Waste says he'll continue to support a 2017 legislative resolution stating opposition to the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Sun

June

June 12, 2018 — Las Vegas officials vote against reviving Yucca Mountain — For the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Tuesday, it was Yucca Mountain deja vu. Board members unanimously approved a resolution opposing the revival of federal funding for the nuclear waste repository 100 miles from Las Vegas — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 11, 2018 — Nevada wants recusal from NRC member on Yucca Mountain decisions — WASHINGTON — The state of Nevada is asking a regulatory commissioner to recuse himself from any federal decision on Yucca Mountain, citing his past advocacy and public comments critical of local opposition to the controversial project. Nevada filed the formal 89-page request on Thursday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that would oversee the licensing process of an application by the Department of Energy to build a waste repository at Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 07,2018 — Congress could fund Yucca restart next year — The head of Nevada's Nuclear Projects Office said Thursday he doesn't expect Congress to approve funding to re-start licensing of Yucca Mountain this year. But Bob Halstead told the Commission on Nuclear Projects after the first of the year, there's a 90 percent chance of funding to move forward with licensing the nuclear waste dump north of Las Vegas — Nevada Appeal [Print PDF]

June 04, 2018 — House to vote on energy spending bill with Yucca Mountain funds — WASHINGTON: A $44.7 billion spending package for energy programs, including the Yucca Mountain project, is scheduled for a vote in the House this week. A Senate version of the bill approved last month does not include spending for Yucca Mountain, setting up an impasse with the House similar to one last year that prevented the project from moving forward — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 03, 2018 — Congress works to revive long-delayed plan to store nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON – The federal government’s dormant plan to store nuclear waste in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain is showing signs of life amid a new push by the Trump administration and some members of Congress to revive the long-delayed project — USA Today

June 01, 2018 — Appeals court throws out lawsuit over Nevada’s Yucca Mountain — A federal appeals court has tossed out a lawsuit by the state of Texas that sought to force a licensing decision on the proposed nuclear waste storage project at Yucca Mountain. Citing procedural problems with the action, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday granted the state of Nevada’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the suit in March 2017, arguing . . . — Las Vegas Review Journal

July

July 27, 2018 Yucca Mountain revival efforts appear dead – for now — WASHINGTON — Efforts to restart licensing hearings and store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain appear dead for the next year after a congressional panel eliminated a funding request from the defense bill Monday. Trump administration and congressional attempts to restart the licensing hearings and open the nuclear waste repository will likely resume in the next Congress, after midterm elections in November that could reshape the makeup of the House — RJ.com

July 18, 2018 — Las Vegas business leaders mount campaign against Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON: A congressional tour of Yucca Mountain last weekend spurred Las Vegas business leaders to fan out across the nation’s capital Wednesday and lobby lawmakers and the Trump administration against storing nuclear waste in Nevada. The Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce has historically opposed the Yucca Mountain project, located just 90 miles northwest of the entertainment destination, but a recent visit to the mothballed nuclear waste repository by lawmakers reignited worries — Las Vegas Review Journal

July 14, 2018 — EDITORIAL: Illinois congressman is back to waste more time on Yucca Mountain — Maybe the 11 congressmen who are scheduled to accompany Rep. John Shimkus this weekend on a tour of Yucca Mountain will get a nice meal and win a few bucks while they’re in the Las Vegas area. They’re sure as hell not going to get a full picture of the proposed nuclear waste repository. That’s because Shimkus apparently doesn’t want them to be fully informed about the disastrous project — Las Vegas Sun

July 12, 2018 — Lawmaker hopes Yucca Mountain tour puts pressure on Congress — WASHINGTON — In an effort to spotlight congressional inaction on long-term nuclear waste storage, House lawmakers from states with power plants that produce and store the highly radioactive material will tour the mothballed Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada on Saturday — Las Vegas Review Journal

July 12, 2018 — Shimkus hopes to show fellow House members that Yucca will work — thenevadaindependent.com

July 09, 2018 — Longtime Yucca Mountain supporter eyes site as funding fight simmers — Congress is set to decide whether to spend money to revive plans for a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada. A group of lawmakers will reconcile Yucca Mountain money approved in the House with a lack of funding out of the Senate. The funding debate is unfolding amid a failed effort by Nevada to get a Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner to recuse himself from the process — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

July 03,2018 — Congressional delegation to tour Yucca Mountain in Nevada — WASHINGTON: House lawmakers with a vested interest in permanent storage of nuclear waste in Nevada will make a trek to Yucca Mountain this month to tour the mothballed exploratory tunnel in the geological formation northwest of Las Vegas. While the Senate remains reluctant to resume licensing to open the repository, ongoing efforts by the House give supporters of the project hope that the Trump administration can move forward on plans to permanently store the radioactive waste in one of least populous states — Las Vegas Review Journal

July 01, 2018 — Panel learns: Nothing happens fast when it comes to fate of nuke waste — By year’s end, the 58 casks of high-level waste at the site of the shuttered Vermont Yankee plant will either become part of NorthStar Group Services, which seeks to buy the remains of the former nuclear plant to decommission it, or it will remain idle for 60 years under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “SAFSTOR” designation — www.recorder.com

August

August 31, 2018 — Hearing set for challenge of NRC’s Yucca Mountain decisions — WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has scheduled a briefing on Nevada’s legal challenge to Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner David Wright’s participation in decisions involving Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste storage at the proposed site, officials said Friday. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has instructed Nevada and the NRC to prepare motions by Oct. 15 and has scheduled a hearing in the case Nevada vs. NRC — RJ.com

August 30, 2018 — Nevada files to force NRC official’s recusal from Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON: Nevada continued its legal attack on the Trump administration over Yucca Mountain on Wednesday, asking a federal appellate court to block an agency commissioner from participating in actions and decisions involving a proposed nuclear waste repository. Nevada asked the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the state’s request that Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner David Wright recuse himself from decisions involving Yucca Mountain because of previous statements and advocacy work. Wright declined to recuse himself July 2. He said his previous statements were general support of a “long-term nuclear waste storage solution” — www.reviewjournal.com [More Coverage — AP]

August 29, 2018 — DOE study targets safer storage of nuclear waste — eurekalert.org

August 24, 2018 — [Editorial] San Onofre nuclear plant mishap gets federal probe it deserves — sandiegouniontribune

August 16, 2018 — Nevada bolstering resources for renewed Yucca fight — Nevada is shoring up two positions in its opposition to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository that has gained steam under President Donald Trump. The state is turning a part-time contractor position into a full-time state job and extending and boosting a legal contract as part of its decades-old effort to block the Yucca Mountain project. Momentum to create the repository all but died under former President Barack Obama — Las Vegas Sun

August 15, 2018 — Sandoval urges officials to gear up to fight Yucca Mountain in 2019 — WASHINGTON — Despite a stalemate in Congress that appears to have shelved action on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project for the year, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval urged state officials to be prepared and proactive and to take the battle to the federal government. “Let’s continue to slug ‘em in the stomach and pop ‘em between the eyes,” Sandoval said during a Board of Examiners meeting in Carson City on Tuesday — rj.com

August 10, 2018 — Will Oyster Creek's nuclear waste be cash cow for buyer Holtec? — A high-level nuclear waste storage facility doesn’t exist yet, since the federal government stopped its attempts in 2011 to develop the Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada in the face of local and regional opposition. So, for the foreseeable future, nuclear plants’ spent fuel must be stored on site of both operating and closed plants — pressofatlanticcity

August 08, 2018 — Holtec Nuclear Waste Project’s Opponents Seek Role for New Mexico — New Mexico’s attorney general thinks the state can do little to stop Holtec International’s application to temporarily store high-level waste from commercial nuclear reactors, but that doesn’t deter critics of the project. A state lawmaker and an environmentalist who oppose the project to store the toxic trash in New Mexico before it is buried forever at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain or another site said they believe the state—and not just the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission — can exert some influence over the Holtec project’s future — bna.com

August 03, 2018 — Attorney general: New Mexico has little say in Holtec proposal — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said the State of New Mexico has limited recourse if it were to oppose federal licensure of a proposed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel — currentargus.com

September

September 28, 2018 — Rosen: Yucca poses threat to bases in Nevada — Nevada’s 3rd U.S. House Rep. Jacky Rosen looks at the Yucca Mountain controversy through the eyes of a member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. The storage and transportation of nuclear waste at the site — less than 100 miles from Las Vegas — poses a serious threat to national security because of the U.S. military bases that surround the area, Rosen said earlier this month on Nevada Newsmakers — pbtimes.com

September 19, 2018 — Letters to the editor of the Pahrump Valley Times — State disputes information in Yucca Mountain column. Tim Burke’s “Yucca Mountain Transportation Scenarios Explored,” PVT September 14, 2018, is wrong on the facts — pvtimes.com

September 17, 2018 — NRC Resumes Review of Application to Build Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility in Texas — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month has resumed its safety and environmental reviews of an application by Interim Storage Partners to construct and operate a consolidated spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Andrews County, Texas — eponline.com

September 12, 2018 — Congressman: Political considerations derailing Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON — A House champion of using Yucca Mountain for permanent storage of nuclear waste charged Wednesday that national energy priorities have been dashed by political calculations to protect vulnerable Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. Heller, who is in a tight re-election bid, gladly took credit for having “stonewalled” House efforts to fund the revival of the proposed nuclear waste repository in the Silver State. “I will not let Nevada be overrun by states that want to move the nuclear waste they created out of their backyards and into ours,” Heller said — RJ.com

September 11, 2018 —What’s in the Final VA, Energy, Legislative Branch Minibus — The final version of a three-bill package lawmakers hope to send soon to President Donald Trump would fund a new Veterans Affairs health-care law, block money for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility, and require Senate candidates to file their finance reports electronically — about.bgov.com

September 06, 2018 —Sandoval, Heller push back as Department of Energy proposes storing excess weapons-grade plutonium at Nevada Test Site — Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller are pushing back on a Department of Energy proposal to store weapons-grade plutonium at the Nevada National Security Site. The plan to store plutonium in Nevada is the result of the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s failure to meet a deadline to complete construction on a South Carolina facility that’s meant to repurpose excess plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors, according to a press release issued by Heller’s office on Thursday. A federal district court in May ordered that one metric ton of plutonium be removed from the site — thenevadaindependent.com

September 01, 2018 — COMMENTARY: Yucca Mountain: No easy transportation, no free government money — Two recent letters to the Review-Journal suggest there are safe and easy ways to transport high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Jim Marsh (“Nuke dump,” Aug. 21) proposes flying the waste in using large C-5A transport planes. Dale Kahre (“Nuke transport,” Aug. 26) proposes trucking the waste in via the new Interstate 11. These proposals, however, are unworkable — RJ.com
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Robert J. Halstead is executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. He writes from Carson City

October

October 31, 2018 — Nevada officials brace for new attempt to revive Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON: Despite the president’s election-eve comments suggesting a change in his stance on nuclear waste storage in Nevada, the state and political opponents are preparing for another push to revive the Yucca Mountain licensing process. President Donald Trump has proposed funding for Yucca Mountain licensing in his past two budget requests — both approved by the House but killed by the Senate — By Gary Martin – Las Vegas Review-Journal

October 29, 2018 — Democrats Seize on Trump’s Remarks About Nevada’s Yucca Nuclear Dump — Nevada Democrats are calling on President Donald Trump to follow through on his new-found opposition to the construction of a nuclear waste dump outside of Las Vegas, after his top energy official said the administration still supports the Yucca Mountain project — bloomberg.com [More Coverage RJ.com]

October 15, 2018 — Tansportation Issues Disqualify Yucca Mountain, Opponent Says — A top Yucca Mountain foe warned Las Vegas business leaders Monday that the proposed nuclear waste repository would turn Southern Nevada into a transportation hub for highly radioactive material. Bob Halstead, who heads Nevada’s Agency for Nuclear Projects, told a Las Vegas Metro Chamber breakfast that spent nuclear fuel would travel through Southern Nevada for 50 years should work proceed at the site, about 100 miles from Las Vegas — knpr.org

October 05, 2018 — Titus, Rosen see Yucca threat in DOE proposal on high-level nuclear waste — A proposed change to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) interpretation of what counts as high-level nuclear waste could result in a backdoor effort to store nuclear waste in Nevada, Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Jacky Rosen said Thursday — thenevadaindependent.com

November

November 29, 2018 — Titus urges House leaders to block any effort to revive Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON : A Nevada lawmaker urged House leaders not to allow any last-minute funding requests to be slipped into a final spending bill that would revive the licensing process for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., sent a letter dated Nov. 28, to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the top Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee asking them to turn away any 11th-hour funding requests by supporters of the Yucca Mountain project — RJ.com [Related Story]

November 19, 2018 — U.S. senator joins nationwide call for caution on Hanford waste change — RICHLAND, WA: The public needs more time to comment on an issue as important as reclassifying high level radioactive waste at Hanford and other Department of Energy sites, says 75 organizations nationwide. On Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., added his support to their call for more additional time on the DOE proposal — tri-cityherald.com

November 08, 2018 — Nuclear host communities weigh in on waste characterization — Representatives from multiple communities that host nuclear activities publicly supported a proposal by the U.S. Department of Energy to change its definition of high-level nuclear waste (HLW), potentially downgrading some HLW to either low-level or transuranic (TRU) waste — currentargus.com

December

December 26, 2018 — [Editorial] Midterms may have spelled the end of Yucca Mountain — Did a blue wave wash away Yucca Mountain? Plans to restart construction of the nuclear waste storage facility 90 miles from Las Vegas were given new life during the Trump administration, inciting fear and protest among Nevadans. However, the results of the midterm elections in November may have created a political buffer against the continued construction of Yucca, and Nevadans have the blue wave to thank for that — Las Vegas Sun [Print PDF]

December 20, 2018 — Yucca Mountain revival efforts appear dead – for now — RJ.com

December 15, 2018 — Western states urge Congress to address nuclear waste transportation issues — Nevada and a group of Western states want safety changes in nuclear waste transportation if Congress puts money toward licensing at the proposed dump site of Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Sun

December 14, 2018 — Pro-Yucca lawmakers push for funding in year-end spending package — Lawmakers who support building a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain have launched an 11th-hour bid to obtain money for the project in must-pass, end-of-year funding legislation. Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee are part of the group leading the charge. Upton is chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee. Alexander is chairman of the Appropriations Committee’s Energy and Water Subcommittee, which oversees the Department of Energy’s budget — thenevadaindependent.com

December 10, 2018 — Sandoval urges lawmakers not to allocate funds for Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval urged congressional leaders to ignore last-minute pleas to place language and funding in a year-end spending bill that could revive the license application process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository — RJ.com

December 12, 2018 — Industry Groups to Congress: Inaction on Nuclear Waste Not an Option — Fifteen notable industry groups have urged Congressional leaders to act on the federal used nuclear fuel program, noting no progress on the Yucca Mountain repository license application and consolidated interim storage is “untenable.” The broad coalition of labor unions, state public service commissioners, clean energy organizations, and energy trade associations told U.S. House and Senate leaders in a December 4 letter: “It is time for the federal government to meet its statutory and contractual obligations. Utilities and their electricity customers have done their part.” — powermag.com

December 06, 2018 — Letter to Congress: 61 organizations oppose nuclear waste language in year end legislation — Speaker Ryan, Democratic Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnell, Democratic Leader Schumer — Nuclear News