FY 2011 Budget Zeros Out Funding for Yucca Mountain
The Obama Administration has been pushing for a year, and now the Department of Energy has officially asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to drop its license application to use Yucca Mountain.
The move comes as the new White House budget proposal zeroes out funding for the Nevada nuclear waste repository at both agencies.
DOE asked NRC to suspend the licensing process that's been under way since June 2008, and said it will ask to withdraw the license within 30 days. NRC's administrative law judges have the final say on granting withdrawal.
The move reverses Energy Secretary Steven Chu's position from last year, when he said Yucca would not be used, but the license would be pursued, so licensing standards for any future repository could be established.
Chu has just named a long-promised blue ribbon panel to explore alternatives to geologic disposal for spent fuel and high-level waste from commercial power plants.
What's Still uncertain, however, is the fate of several decades worth of Cold War military waste that was to be placed at Yucca Mountain.
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