Federal commission urges permanent nuclear waste storage strategy

Policymakers must act quickly to establish at least one site to permanently dispose of the country’s nuclear waste, a federal commission created by President Obama said Thursday.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future takes no position on the Obama administration’s decision to scuttle long-delayed plans to store spent fuel and nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. But the commission’s final report, released Thursday after two years of deliberation, says the Obama administration must work with states to quickly identify and develop a site for the permanent geologic storage of waste.

"The need for a new strategy is urgent, not just to address these damages and costs but because this generation has a fundamental, ethical obligation to avoid burdening future generations with the entire task of finding a safe, permanent solution for managing hazardous nuclear materials they had no part in creating," the report says.

The issue has plagued policymakers for decades. Congress first identified Yucca Mountain as the site for permanent nuclear waste storage in 1987, but the project has seen years of delay.

The Obama administration ultimately halted work on Yucca, a move that Republicans say was motivated by politics, not science.

The commission — which is co-chaired by former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) and former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft — recommends that policymakers use a “consent-based approach” to determining waste storage and disposal sites. Under that approach, states and communities would be given more input on whether they want to house a storage facility.

Many Nevada citizens and politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), were vocally opposed to Yucca Mountain.

The report also recommends establishing an independent agency responsible for nuclear waste management. The Energy Department currently oversees waste storage and disposal.

About 65,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel is being stored at 75 nuclear reactors around the country. Experts have long called for a permanent storage site.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee applauded the report Thursday.

"The commission underscored the need for prompt action on a long-term storage disposal facility, and we believe Yucca Mountain remains the most shovel-ready, thoroughly studied option," committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Environment and the Economy subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.), both strong supporters of Yucca Mountain, said in a statement.