Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nv., said Wednesday the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s recent trip to Yucca Mountain was nothing more than a political sideshow.
He pointed out the committee refused to invite Nevada’s state expert on the proposed dump to join its fact-finding trip.
“If this truly was a fact-finding trip, there would be no better resource to accompany this group than a local expert from the state readily available to answer questions and speak to the complications of the Nevada site,” Heller said. “It became apparent the organizer of the trip to Yucca had zero desire to invite such a valuable resource to accompany the group.”
He said he sent Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz a letter to ensure DoE had access to a Nevada expert. He said the department pointed out congressional sponsors set the guest list for such trips.
“I am disappointed this golden opportunity was squandered into nothing more than a poorly disguised gimmick,” he said. “Nevadans have made their intentions clear, they simply do not want nuclear waste stored at Yucca. No amount of political pomp and circumstance will change that.”
Heller was joined by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nv., who described the Yucca Mountain tour as “a taxpayer-funded junket” that doesn’t move the conversation about storing nuclear waste closer to a solution.
“Nevada, which does not have a single nuclear waste plant, didn’t create this problem and should not be forced to be the nation’s dumping ground,” she said.
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