Congressman Horsford and Nevada Delegation Defeat Republican Effort to Dump Nuclear Waste at Yucca Mountain | Congressman Steven Horsford
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Congressman Horsford and Nevada Delegation Defeat Republican Effort to Dump Nuclear Waste at Yucca Mountain

May 21, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC– Today, the House Committee on Appropriations voted to defeat a Republican amendment that would have made our state a nuclear waste dumping ground. The amendment, which will be kept out of the final Energy and Water Appropriations bill, would have provided funding for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, in Nevada's 4th Congressional District. Congressman Steven Horsford released the following statement after today's vote:

"Today I led an effort, along with the entire Nevada delegation, to kill an amendment to license and restart construction of a nuclear waste facility at Yucca Mountain," said Congressman Horsford. "I am proud that the Committee heard our arguments against Yucca Mountain. This is a victory for all Nevadans. While we won today, the fight isn't over, and I will continue to protect the people of Nevada from dangerous and ill-advised efforts to store the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada."

"The people of Nevada have made themselves clear time and time again. We do not want our state to be the dumping ground for the nation's nuclear waste. Moving forward, we must urge our colleagues to work toward a consent-based solution for the storage of nuclear waste, one that does not force it on those unwilling to accept it."

The move to establish Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository stems from theNuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, which directed the Department of Energy to begin a consent-based process to develop a permanent repository for our nation's nuclear waste. Since then, Nevada lawmakers have made consistent efforts to keep nuclear waste out of our state.

After last year's Republican controlled Congress voted overwhelmingly to restart Yucca Mountain, with 340 members voting in support of Yucca Mountain and only 72 voting against it, and President Donald Trump including $116 million in his proposed budget plan, Nevada lawmakers were forced to once again defend the State. Today's vote reflects the decades of opposition to fund Yucca Mountain.