House Yucca advocate won't target GOP candidates for opposing the waste dump

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) has spent months calling out members of Congress for opposing now-abandoned plans to permanently store the country’s nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

But he said he has no immediate plans to target Republican candidates like Mitt Romney, who have said they oppose long-delayed plans to store nuclear waste at the Nevada site.

Shimkus, a vocal advocate of Yucca Mountain and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee with jurisdiction over the waste dump, said he believes that a Republican president will be better suited to resolve the fight over spent nuclear fuel.

Asked whether there is a path forward for Yucca Mountain, Shimkus, in a short interview with The Hill, replied, “Nov. 6,” referring to Election Day. 

Shimkus declined to take a shot at Romney or Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who both signaled at an October debate that they oppose Yucca Mountain.

“If Nevada says, ‘Look, we don’t want it,’ then let other states make bids and say, ‘Hey, look, we will take it, here is a geological site that we have evaluated, here is the compensation we want for taking it,' ” Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said in Nevada, where there is major opposition to the project.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, has signaled that he supports Yucca Mountain. Asked at the December debate if Yucca is the way to go, he replied, “I am not a scientist,” but added: “We have to find some method of finding a geologically stable place, and most geologists believe that in fact Yucca Mountain is that place.”

Shimkus noted he has not endorsed a candidate for president, adding that their position on Yucca Mountain will be one of many issues he considers.

Shimkus blasted President Obama for abandoning Yucca Mountain, arguing the decision was based on politics, not sound science. Republicans have been working to reverse the president's decision.

A federal commission released a report last week that called on policymakers to move quickly to indentify at least one permanent nuclear waste repository, arguing that states should help determine the location. The report took no position on Yucca Mountain.

In a series of floor speeches in recent months, Shimkus has targeted lawmakers for opposing Yucca Mountain.

For example, in one December speech he took aim at Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), arguing that opposition to Yucca effectively ensures that high-level nuclear waste remains in Massachusetts in above-ground storage pools.