Nevada’s Democratic senators will introduce legislation Tuesday to permanently block any future consideration of the Yucca Mountain site as the nation’s nuclear waste repository, aligning with the Trump administration’s push to abandon the decades-old project in favor of a new voluntary siting strategy.
Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez-Masto will introduce the Jobs, Not Waste Act to prohibit any current or future designation of Yucca Mountain as a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel.
The bill, first introduced during the last Congress, would also require the Office of Management and Budget to submit a study evaluating the economic and job-creation potential of alternative uses for the site.
It comes as the administration is urging Capitol Hill to formally shift federal nuclear waste policy away from Yucca and toward a new program that would partner with willing states to host storage facilities.
