Nuclear waste at center of testy Nevada Senate race

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown has come under fire from Democrats for comments he made in 2022 expressing support for the federal government’s plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

Nevada lawmakers of both parties have criticized a federal plan to turn an isolated southwestern Nevada mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into a nuclear waste storage facility since the project was first proposed in the 1980s. I have been strongly opposed ever since.

But Brown has expressed support for the idea in the past, and his voice is heard. with new recording He said during his 2022 campaign that he risked losing an opportunity if the state blocked the plan.

“We’re evaluating whether if we don’t act soon, other states … can essentially take that opportunity away from us,” he said in the recording, which was first obtained by the Los Angeles Times. In it, he said:

Brown, who is considered the favorite in June’s Nevada Republican Senate primary, said in a statement to The Hill that while he is not actively seeking to reopen Yucca Mountain, future proposals are being considered. said it should.

“We are not strictly committed to opening Yucca Mountain at this time,” Brown said. “However, I will thoroughly review all future proposals to ensure they are of substantial economic benefit, with the safety of Nevadans as my top priority.”

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), who is running for re-election, immediately understood the comment. Rosen is seen as vulnerable this fall in states where polls favor former President Trump. The Cook Political Report lists her seat as a toss-up.

“Nevadaans have made it clear for decades, across party lines, that we will not allow our nation to become a dumping ground for the rest of the nation’s nuclear waste,” Rosen said in a statement. “Since Sam Brown was still living in Texas, I have been fighting Washington politicians trying to force the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, and I have fought against politicians in Washington who tried to force nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, and I have been fighting against politicians in Washington who tried to force the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. His extreme support highlights how little he understands the state’s needs.”

Christy Wilkinson, communications director for the Brown campaign, said in a statement to The Hill that Rosen “has committed to the Harry Reid machine’s dirty political tactics of fear-mongering to get votes in time for a difficult re-election bid.” It continues,” he said.

Reed, a longtime Nevada state senator and Democratic leader who died in 2021, made Yucca Mountain a national issue and organized resistance after Congress passed a bill funding the project in 2002. did. Former Secretary of State John Kerry added his opposition to the idea in a 2004 speech. Thanks to pressure from Reid, who lost access to the presidential campaign platform, the Obama administration completely halted work on this repository in his 2010 year.

former president trump Help fund Yucca Mountain Early in his presidency, he rescinded the promise in 2020 after pressure from Republicans in the state. Despite the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan, President Trump has not discussed Yucca Mountain policy since the 2020 campaign. Do you support construction?.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said it has no plans to move forward with construction of the Yucca Mountain Depot.

Brown’s stance on restarting work at Yucca Mountain is supported by public officials in Nye County, the sparsely populated area that directly surrounds the Nevada Test Site.

In 2019, county commissioners sent a letter to the Legislature supporting the project, writing that they have “long supported a full and fair scientific review by the NRC.”

“We want decisions at Yucca Mountain to be made based on facts and science, not empty rhetoric and fear-mongering,” they wrote.

Supporters have generally dismissed concerns from environmentalists, citing extensive geological studies that have shown Yucca Mountain to be one of the safer options for storing waste in the country.

The issue came to a head in Congress last month when House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) brought up an effort to move forward with the Yucca Mountain project, which had not seen work in years. surfaced again.

“Opposition parties blocked Congress from spending and encouraged the executive branch to dismantle programs that were technically successful,” McMorris Rogers said at the hearing. “We must continue the work of this commission to change the law and build state support for a permanent Yucca Mountain repository.”

“For many years, I have fought to prevent Nevada from becoming a national dumping ground for nuclear waste,” Rosen said in a statement responding to McMorris Rogers’ comments. “The people of Nevada have made it clear that they do not consent to this nuclear waste being transported or stored in our state, and I will continue to work to prevent that from happening.”

Rep. Brown and Congressman’s comments sparked a new wave of opposition to Yucca Mountain by Nevada lawmakers.

“We feel the science is not good,” Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) told The Hill. “There’s a fault there, the water table is broken, so we have to transport it.” [nuclear waste] Las Vegas doesn’t have many roads or railroads. The slightest accident will destroy our economy. ”

“We don’t use nuclear power, we don’t manufacture it. So why are we a dumping ground?” she continued.

Titus blamed the resurgence of conversations beyond Yucca Mountain on what she called “Yucca fatigue,” or a decline in opposition enthusiasm over time. She doesn’t think her fatigue will last.

“You have to remind them, ‘Hey, this is right here, don’t forget,'” she says. “That’s the feeling across the state. Democratic and Republican governors, Democratic and Republican senators and representatives all came together on this.”

Meanwhile, local environmental groups have also long expressed concerns about the potential use of Yucca Mountain as a waste storage site, noting in particular concerns about the potential for waste to seep into aquifers.

“As the driest state in the nation, Nevada recognizes that our water resources are precious and need to be protected rather than put at greater risk,” said Christie, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League. Watson told The Hill via email.

Taylor Patterson, executive director of the Nevada Alliance of Native Voters, said Yucca Mountain is an issue that the Western Shoshone Nation in particular has been vocal about for years.

“It’s crazy that we still have to deal with this again after so many years and years,” she told The Hill.

Nuclear energy experts are also skeptical of the Yucca Mountain deal.

in an editorial David M. Kaus, who served as deputy secretary of energy during the Obama administration, called the Yucca Mountain deal “a fantasy” in Tuesday’s Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

In an interview with The Hill, Kaus noted that even if a federal deal were reached, the process at the state level would involve logistical hurdles.

Regardless of the long road to work on the Yucca Mountain project, talk of funding alone could intensify the Silver State Senate race.

a Hill/Nexstar Poll Results of the Nevada Senate race released Tuesday showed Mr. Rosen leading Mr. Brown by 8 points, receiving 45% of the vote to Mr. Brown’s 37%.senator too lead the fundraising He had a huge lead, raising $23.6 million during the campaign compared to Brown’s $5.3 million.