Congressman Doc Hastings

Washington, Jul 29, 2011 -

Washington, D.C.—“Today’s report from the Blue Ribbon Commission is no surprise as this group never had any intention of conducting a serious, honest approach to storage of the nuclear waste in our country.  The BRC was formed so that President Obama could terminate Yucca Mountain without having to answer the question of what next and it has been charged to study a solution to a problem that already has an answer – Yucca Mountain.  By law, Yucca Mountain is our nation’s nuclear waste repository.

“All this report tells me is that the people of Washington state will be collateral damage in President Obama’s road to re-election.  Hanford will be home to High Level Defense Waste even longer while his Administration presents the façade of looking for a for a new permanent repository. 

“Especially concerning is that this is all unfolding while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to refuse to release their decision on the Department of Energy’s ability to withdraw the Yucca Mountain application.  I will continue to pressure the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Chairman Jaczko to make their finding public and transparent.

“The State of Washington, leaders in the Tri-Cities and other interested parties should be applauded for filing a writ of mandamus to compel the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to act and put an end to the uncertainty faced by communities across our country while they wait for the Yucca Mountain project to move forward.”