Jeff Bingaman: “I am today introducing a bill to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear…”

“I am today introducing a bill to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. The Blue Ribbon Commission was appointed by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, at the request of President Obama, in March 2010. The purpose of the Commission was to examine the nation's nuclear waste management policy, consider alternatives, and recommend a new approach. The Commission was made up of 15 distinguished members, and co-chaired by Representative Lee Hamilton and General Brent Scowcroft. Two of our former colleagues, Senator Domenici and Senator Hagel, were also members. The Commission did an outstanding job. It met more than two dozen times over two years, conducted five public hearings across the country, heard testimony from countless experts and stakeholders, visited nuclear waste management facilities both here and abroad, and assembled a very thorough, thoughtful, and authoritative report. The Commission made eight clear, concise, and eminently sensible recommendations. Principally, it recommended that we adopt a new, consent-based approach to siting nuclear waste management facilities, and that we establish a new organization to manage the nuclear waste management program.…”