The recent passage by the Senate of a reform bill for our federal nuclear-waste program was a very important milestone. It sets out a thoughtful plan for establishing a federal, interim storage facility next to the site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., where a permanent, underground disposal facility is being considered.
This plan will move accumulating waste away from the more than 100 nuclear power plants in this country to a single area. This makes sense from an economic, environmental and safety point of view. With the president’s signature, the legislation will bring rationality to a program that has been bogged down in wrangling and politics from both sides of Congress. Once this bill is passed, we as a nation can go forward in our critical needs for energy development, national security and environmental stewardship.
