Titus Statement on Doe Proposal for Nuclear Waste Disposal

Press Release

Today Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada's First District released the following statement on the Department of Energy announcement of a new strategy for the disposal of high-level defense and commercial nuclear waste. The strategy recommends a consent-based approach and allows for different disposal pathways for defense and commercial waste.

"I applaud this decision by the Administration, and urge my colleagues in Congress to support the bipartisan, commonsense Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, which would codify a consent-based process for the siting of nuclear waste depositories. No community should have waste pushed on them by the federal government without having a say," said Titus.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan signed an Executive Order calling for the disposal of defense and commercial nuclear waste in a dual-purpose repository. Today Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced that the Department has been authorized by President Obama to develop dual tracks for the disposition of defense and commercial waste as a way to move the nation's nuclear waste policy forward utilizing a consent-based approach. This recommendation was identified by the Blue Ribbon Commission for America's Nuclear Future and outlined in the bipartisan Senate legislation, the Nuclear Waste Administration Act.

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