Issue Position: San Onofre Nuclear Waste Removal -- A Work in Process and Resist is not Helpful

Issue Position

Though Mr. Levin, my opponent in CD49, seems to be unaware, there is already a process underway for removing the nuclear waste from SONGS but we will need cooperation from our own State's Congress members and Senators as well as those in other states to get SONGS to the top of the list for waste removal. In the meantime, the first step was taken by Congressmen Issa and Peters who worked on HR3053 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act, with the Committee Chair Shimkus (IL), to meet the first hurdle in legislation passed out of the House on a bi-partisan basis.

HR 3053 would re-designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as permanent storage (which is currently being litigated after being chosen 3 decades ago) and allow for the removal of waste to temporary storage, until a permanent storage facility is ready to receive the waste. This bill has not yet been approved by the Senate and is not expected to be heard until after the 2018 election.

The next step would be to establish which facilities that currently have nuclear waste are allowed to remove their waste and in what order (there are 121 sites in 39 states). I and others believe the decommissioned plants, such as San Onofre, should top the list but that will again require at least 219 votes out of the House and 60 votes in the Senate. So we must first ensure we corral all of our state Congress people (53) and our 2 Senators to provide a united front and strong start in obtaining the requisite number of votes to get California to the top of the list.

Next the transportation of waste will be determined, but understand that there is still pending litigation against Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which is the only site approved at this time as a permanent site.

Our need to procure votes and cooperation from other states is why the political mayhem created by RESIST as well as other protests that spur non-cooperation among our state leaders must abate. Politics is the art of the possible -- cooperation and working together is the only way we will "get it done" which is what I pledge to do.

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