Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I rise today and stand with the overwhelming majority of Nevadans who wholeheartedly oppose our State becoming the dumping ground for the rest of the Nation's nuclear waste.

Based on the Department of Energy's own studies, Yucca Mountain is unfit as a repository site for nuclear waste because of the impact it would have on national transportation. We are talking about shipping up to three loads of radioactive waste per week to Nevada by rail or truck for over 50 years.

Here is a map of what the proposed routes would look like. Dangerous waste would go through 329 congressional districts across this country.

To the Members representing these districts: Do you consent to high- level radioactive waste barreling down your highways and your train tracks? Are you prepared to face your constituents at home and tell them that you voted to put their safety at risk?

Yucca Mountain would also jeopardize our national security and the readiness of our Air Force by compromising military activities at the Nevada Test and Training Range, the largest air and ground military training space in the contiguous United States.

Instead of spending billions more in hard-earned taxpayer dollars on this ill-conceived project, let's work on converting the site into something that will keep our families safe and still create jobs.

My bill, the Jobs, Not Waste Act, which I offered as an amendment to H.R. 3053, would prohibit DOE from moving forward with its plan until a number of other job-creating alternatives for Yucca Mountain are considered. It is an innovative and forward-thinking solution to repurpose this site for something useful.

Mr. Chair, I urge Congress to stop wasting time and taxpayer money on Yucca Mountain and finally realize just how dangerous and costly this project will be. It is past time we identified viable alternatives for this project while finding a safe, long-term repository in a State that consents to its siting.

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