Strong rhetoric will not keep nuclear waste out of Nevada — it takes votes. And passing a new federal budget prior to Oct. 1 by a two-thirds congressional majority to prevent a shutdown is the challenge to both deny funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain and keep the government open.
Congress likes to defer the hard choices and live on a credit card, thus enabling easier re-election to office. It is up to Congress members to demonstrate that they are in charge of the purse and pass a budget.
Here at home today, the 2019 National Nuclear Power Plan will discuss both reprocessing nuclear waste and micro-grids as a new source of clean power. It will take place at the Switch building. It promises a new energy path forward and is an alternative to storing radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain.