Political Quotes

“As he knows, and he has spoken so eloquently about the need for a national repository at Yucca Mountain, and I can remember that in the appropriation bill there is $131 million, and this amount is grossly inadequate for the Yucca Mountain project. At that funding level, the Department of Energy would have to lay off 70 percent of its Yucca Mountain workforce, the license application would be delayed, and the repository opening would be delayed beyond the year 2010. All of the spent nuclear fuel would stay at the 77 field facilities spread out across the country, and this is unacceptable. Yesterday, the Committee on Energy and Commerce passed a 5-year authorization bill, H.R. 3981, that authorizes offsetting collection over 5 years from fees paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund. Our proposal could help solve the funding problem and provide the much-needed funds for Yucca Mountain. The amounts authorized in H.R. 3981 would be sufficient to keep the Yucca Mountain project on track and keep the hundreds of key technical staff employed in the Las Vegas office of the DOE's Yucca Mountain office.”