Herb Kohl: “Today the long struggle to find a permanent repository for nuclear waste came one step closer to completion. The Senate…”

“Today the long struggle to find a permanent repository for nuclear waste came one step closer to completion. The Senate has decided to overrule Nevada's objection to storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain with a strong majority. This is a victory I supported, but not one I can be happy about because it forced me to vote against my leadership. I supported moving the waste to Yucca Mountain for three main reasons. First, the opening of Yucca Mountain means that Wisconsin will have one less site storing nuclear waste as the Dairyland Power Cooperative's decommissioned reactor will finally be able to get rid of the waste stored at its defunct reactor. Second, the site has been proven safe after 20 years of study by the Department of Energy and the National Academy of Sciences. Third, the electricity rate payers of Wisconsin have paid more than $250 million over the years for this site, and the Federal Government should fulfill its side of the bargain by providing the repository it promised. I still have concerns regarding transportation of the waste through our population centers.”