January 29, 2009 —PROPOSED NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP: Yucca might be cut more — WASHINGTON -- The already scaled back federal funding to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain would drop by close to $100 million more through the rest of fiscal 2009, continuing a steep downward spiral that raises new questions about the future of the project. The office of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., disclosed new spending cuts Wednesday for the unpopular Nevada project that he once vowed to make "bleed real hard" and that he says he is trying to end altogether — Stephens Washington Bureau
January 24, 2009 — SUN EDITORIAL: Selling out Nevada:Gibbons plans to cut fight against Yucca Mountain, and some in GOP want blood money — — Las Vegas Sun
January 21, 2009 — Comment Letter, Eureka County: Notice of Revised Proposed Policy and Request for comments, October 31, 2008 (73 FR 64933) - 180(c) implementation— Eureka County
January 22, 2009 — Nevadans criticize plan to ship waste: Yucca draft lacks details, officials say —The Department of Energy's plan for hauling nuclear waste across the nation to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain is a brush job at best, Nevada officials who are reviewing the document said this week. “ It's really a sad indictment of what little has been accomplished. There was more in the previous draft plan,” said Robert Halstead, transportation adviser for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects — RJ.com [Related Story— AP]
January 12, 2009 —YUCK, A DUMP —A small but significant shift in nuclear waste politics went almost unnoticed last week in Washington. As Congress reconvened, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., took over chairmanship of the House energy and air quality subcommittee — RJ.com
January 07, 2009 —
Officials warn budget cuts might delay Yucca license review — WASHINGTON — The license review to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain is on schedule so far but federal officials warned today that further budget cuts could kick it off track — Stephens Washington Bureau
January 06, 2009 —
Yucca budget facing big cuts over 2009-10, Reid says — WASHINGTON -- The bleeding might soon begin. A few weeks after Sen. Harry Reid declared that the Yucca Mountain project was going to "bleed real hard" in the coming year, he said Monday that the already reduced budget for the controversial nuclear waste plan will be cut "significantly" for the remainder of 2009, and that a 2010 White House spending request will contain "little if anything at all." — Stephens Washington Bureau
January 05, 3008 —
Reid discloses plans for crippling cuts to Yucca Mountain project
— A few weeks after Sen. Harry Reid declared that the Yucca Mountain project was going to “bleed real hard” in the coming year, he said Monday the already reduced budget for the controversial nuclear waste plan will be cut “significantly” for the remainder of 2009, and that a 2010 White House spending request will contain “little if anything at all.” — RJ.com
February 28, 2009 —Yucca application filed on Inauguration Day — While the Obama administration has been pursuing a course to kill the Yucca Mountain Project, the Department of Energy has been quietly forging ahead with its plan to obtain water rights for building a rail line across rural Nevada to haul the nation's highly radioactive waste for burial in the mountain — RJ.com
February 26, 2009 —Obama budget plan cuts Yucca Mountain funding — The Obama administration is poised to move forward with a blue ribbon panel to look at alternatives for dealing with radioactive waste, but the Department of Energy for now will continue to pursue a license to put it in Yucca Mountain. — RJ.com [More Coverage - AP]
February 20, 2009 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Once flatlining, now on life supportWashington — The Obama administration remains steadfastly opposed to the Yucca Mountain project, but new Energy Secretary Steven Chu is leaving the door ajar for the government to continue seeking a license needed to open the nuclear waste dump site — Las Vegas Sun
February 18, 2009 —
Chu favors moving toward licensing nuclear waste repository in Nevada
— WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a group of state officials this morning he favors moving forward toward licensing a nuclear waste repository in Nevada, although whether it would ever be built is another thing altogether, according to officials familiar with the meeting — By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
February 17, 2009 —Nuclear industry calls for fallback plan for Yucca Mountain — WASHINGTON -- The government affairs arm of the nuclear industry on Monday called for President Barack Obama to convene a blue ribbon nuclear waste commission, a move that could be a first step toward forming alternatives to burying radioactive power plant fuel at Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau
February 14, 2009 —Yucca workers try to save jobs amid predictions of 500 layoffs — WASHINGTON -- Employees on the Yucca Mountain Project have stepped up appeals to rescue jobs amid confirmation that an anticipated new round of federal budget cuts will put another 500 or more of them out of work. Officials for the new prime contractor, USA Repository Services, told employees last week that the staff of roughly 600 contract workers will be cut by 500, according to Department of Energy spokesman Allen Benson — RJ.com
February 12, 2009 —
DOE distances secretary from Yucca Mountain Project comment — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday sought to put distance between Energy Secretary Steven Chu and a published report that suggested he favored keeping the Yucca Mountain Project alive for a while longer — Stephens Washington Bureau
February 12, 2009 —Lawmakers question plan to cut funds — CARSON CITY -- Legislators told Gov. Jim Gibbons on Wednesday to back off from cuts in the state agency leading the fight against federal efforts to open a high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain — AP
February 05, 2009 — Bill introduced to abolish nuclear projects agency — CARSON CITY – State Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, has introduced a bill that could abolish the state agency charged with battling the Yucca Mountain project. Senate Bill 117, prompted by the controversy over former Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux’s giving himself and staff unauthorized raises, would place the program under the authority of the governor — Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun
February 02, 2009 —Anti-Yucca Mountain strategist catching up — Bruce Breslow is getting his feet wet.He just hopes the water won't be laced with radioactive remnants from nuclear waste that the Department of Energy plans to entomb in Yucca Mountain — RJ.com
March 31, 2009 —
Sessions focus on licensing for Yucca site The last leg of the Energy Department's decades-long journey to obtain a license for constructing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain starts today, with judges from a regulatory agency slated to hear arguments about the license application — RG.com (Online Webcast)
March 28, 2009 —Reid agrees with study on Yucca Mountain alternatives WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid agreed Friday to yield to the Obama administration in organizing a study commission for nuclear waste — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 19, 2009 —NUCLEAR [Regulatory] COMMISSION: Radioactive waste storage is revised —WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is revising its estimates of how long nuclear waste can be kept safely at power-generating facilities as confidence shrinks that the radioactive material ever would be shipped to a Yucca Mountain repository — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 19, 2009 —In D.C., a sea change on dump plan — Obama’s opposition reshapes the conversation on nuclear energy Washington — Ever since President Barack Obama promised to significantly scale back the Yucca Mountain budget this year, the question has been a simple one: Now what? — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 18, 2009 — NRC revising its on-site nuclear waste policy — WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is revising its estimates of how long nuclear waste can be kept safely at power utilities as confidence shrinks that the radioactive material would be shipped to a Yucca Mountain repository any time soon if ever — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 18, 2009 — Las Vegas Sun Editorial: Yucca Mountain politics — Despite what critics say, science never drove the plan to make Nevada a nuclear dump — Las Vegas Sun
March 2009 —Op-Ed: ”Re-evaluating Nuclear Waste Policy” Since Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, our nation has been pursuing a path for the ultimate disposal of used nuclear fuel using a once-through fuel cycle. An opportune time to re-evaluate this policy has arrived . . . NEI - Nuclear Energy Institute
March 17, 2009 — [Editorial]
Yucca plan poses 'grave' risk: It’s time to end this boondoggle and find nuclear waste alternative [Harry Reid and John Ensign
] — USA-Today [The papers view]
March 14, 2009 —Nuclear industry to fight Yucca Mountain bill WASHINGTON -- A battle line began forming Friday around a bill that would create an expert commission to evaluate the nation's nuclear waste policies. The Nuclear Energy Institute signaled it plans to fight the proposal as it is considered by Congress. — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 13, 2009 —
Yucca missing from plan to remake nuclear waste policy: Reid-Ensign bill would create group to redo waste policy — WASHINGTON -- Nevada senators seeking to redirect the nation away from Yucca Mountain introduced a bill Thursday that would create a nine-member expert panel to overhaul nuclear waste policy — RJ.com
March 12, 2009 —Chu promises to develop Yucca alternative quickly — WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday that he expects to move quickly to develop an alternative to nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, with plans to convene a special commission that would report back to him by year's end — Stephens Washington Bureau
March 11, 2009 —
DOE applies to drill wells along rail route
[State nuke director says plan doesn't make sense ] The U.S. Department of Energy submitted 116 applications to the Nevada Division of Water Resources to drill 103 wells along the route of the proposed Caliente railroad to Yucca Mountain. Allen Benson, director of the DOE office of external affairs, said the applications were turned in before the change of administration in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama's administration cut the budget for the Yucca Mountain program by $100 million to $288 million and has discussed finding alternatives to a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain — Pahrump Valley Times
March 10, 2009 —Group would study alternatives to Yucca — WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid said Monday he is working to form a study group to come up with alternatives to burying nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. "I am going to have a blue-ribbon panel to take a look at that," the Nevada Democrat said in a meeting with reporters — Stephens Washington Bureau
The Budget Here’s the new administration’s budget
policy statement for Yucca Mountaion . . . . “the Yucca Mountain program will be scaled back to those costs necessary to answer inquiries from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, while the Administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal”— whigehouse.gov/omb
March 07, 2009 —Idahoans unhappy with Yucca downsizing . . . . The state's four representatives have asked to meet with Energy Secretary Steven Chu about nuclear waste that now is kept in Idaho but is planned for disposal in the Nevada repository that is still under development — Stephens Washington Bureau [Related Story— RJ.com]
March 06, 2009 —
Official: Nuclear dump is out: Panel told alternative to Yucca to be sought — Energy Secretary Steven Chu stood firm Thursday under sharp questioning from Senate Republicans, saying Yucca Mountain no longer is an option to store nuclear waste . . . . Chu said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has advised that nuclear waste can be kept at utilities for the time being “without risk to the environment.” Continued storage there or at regional interim locations “is something we can do today,” Chu said. — RJ.com
March 04, 2009 — Chu: Yucca no longer option for nuclear waste — WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada no longer is an option for storing highly radioactive nuclear waste, brushing aside criticism from several Republican lawmakers — AP
March 04, 2009 — Yucca Mountain Is Dead. Now What?
— As The Washington Post reported today, Obama's new budget will likely spell the end of the Energy Department's 20-plus-year effort to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. While some congressional supporters . . . TNR.com
March 04, 2009 —
Dump plan's key supporters not ready to concede — President Barack Obama may substantially scale back funding for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in his proposed 2010 budget, but its supporters are not going to go down without a fight in Congress — Las Vegas Sun [Related Story — Washington Post
April 30, 2009 —GOP senators push back on plans to scrap Yucca project: Lawmakers attack Obama's energy policies — WASHINGTON -- Republican senators on Wednesday pushed back against the Obama administration's moves to set aside the nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau
April 30, 2009 —
Maintain pressure to kill Yucca, ex-Senator says
— Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan told the Commission on Nuclear Projects on Wednesday that even though President Barack Obama has indicated the Yucca Mountain project is history, now is not the time for Nevada to back off. “I, like a lot of people, believe the project is dead,” Bryan said. “But we do not want a Lazarus-like resurrection. We will not be able to rest easy until we drive a silver stake through its heart.” — Nevada Appeal
April 30, 2009 —State urged to keep fighting: While most believe the Yucca project is dying, others advise diligence — RJ.com
April 24, 2009 —
Senator's bill seeks Yucca Mountain refunds — WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced in the Senate would begin refunding billions of dollars to electricity consumers if President Barack Obama follows through on his vow to end the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste program. The bill by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would dismantle the special fund dedicated to building a repository in Nevada for 77,000 tons of used nuclear fuel and waste generated by utilities and government defense programs — Stephens Washington Bureau [Related Story — Washington Times]
April 22, 2009 — McCain: Blue ribbon Yucca panel unnecessary — WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain said today that he did not believe the Obama administration’s proposed blue ribbon commission to study alternatives to Yucca Mountain was necessary. McCain, the former Republican presidential nominee, remains a strong supporter of the nuclear waste dump planned for north of Las Vegas — Las Vegas Sun
April 20, 2009 —Yucca's demise to cost Nevada: Job losses will add to economic woes —
The Obama administration and the state's congressional delegation have vowed to financially bleed the decades-old Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project, but doing so probably will cramp Southern Nevada's already hurting economy — RJ.com
April 17, 2009 —Obama to cut Yucca budget — WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama submits his 2010 budget request with actual numbers next month, it is expected to show a substantial funding cut for the Yucca Mountain project, a trade publication reports today. Obama will cut Yucca Mountain to just $198 million, which is nearly $100 million less than what the program is operating on for 2009, according to the New Nuclear Build Monitor — Las Vegas Sun
April 10, 2009 — Nevada seeks to derail Yucca train plan: State files motions with transportation board — WASHINGTON -- If there is likely to be no nuclear waste repository in Nevada, there is no need to think about building a nuclear waste railroad, attorneys for the state are saying to a federal board considering an Energy Department rail plan. Nevada lawyers filed a motion Tuesday asking the Surface Transportation Board to suspend a DOE application to build a rail line from Caliente to the repository site at Yucca Mountain — Stephens Washington Bureau
April 09, 2009 — States resist adding to nuclear waste construction fund:Yucca Mountain's slowing pace prompts action — WASHINGTON -- With the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository on a slow path for years, and now possibly ended for good, some states are seeking relief on money their residents pay into a multibillion-dollar construction account — Stephens Washington Bureau [More Coverage — New York Times]
April 08, 2009 —Sun editorial: A critical look at Yucca? — Nuclear Regulatory Commission judges question staff’s review of nuclear waste dump - A panel of judges from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a three-day hearing last week on objections to the Energy Department’s application to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas — Las Vegas Sun
April 04, 2009 — Energy Department presses for license as if nothing’s changed — Hearings this week in Las Vegas on the federal government’s plans to store highly radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain drew little public attendance. But Nevada officials and several other groups showed up to raise 320 objections to the plan — Las Vegas Sun
April 01, 2009 — McCain says it's time for Plan B for Yucca project: Senator calling for Congress to move on — WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain threw up his hands Tuesday, acknowledging that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site may be mothballed by the Obama administration and calling for Congress to move on if that is the case. McCain was a vocal advocate for the Nevada repository plan in recent weeks, while the Obama administration signaled it planned to dramatically scale back its budget and initiate a search for alternatives — Las Vegas Review Journal
May 20, 2009 —
In Obama’s budget, money to fight Yucca also likely cut — Washington — President Barack Obama’s proposed slashing of the Yucca Mountain budget has had a perhaps unexpected fallout: It also likely cut the money the state of Nevada relies on to fight the project — Las Vegas Sun [More Coverage - UPI]
May 18, 2009 —Is the solution to the U.S. nuclear waste problem in France — LA HAGUE, France -- Visiting the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility here is a bit like stepping into the script from a 1960s Star Trek show. When visitors peer through a 40-inchthick,
radiation-shielding plate of glass, they can see a ballet of industrial-strength robots — Nytimes.com
May 15, 2009 —Dumped on: White House does Nevada huge favor with Yucca budget plan [Editorial] — Las Vegas Sun
May 08, 2009 —Bell tolls for Yucca: Obama’s budget ends all planning for the dump site, but only Congress can kill it . . . This proposal implements the Administration’s decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain — Las Vegas Sun [Related Story- NYtimes.com]
May 06, 2009 —Obama takes another big swipe at Yucca budget: WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s first budget for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site will be the lowest ever, and will include further directions for the Department of Energy to wind down the Nevada project, officials said today — Stephens Washington Bureau
June 12, 2009 —
Yucca rejection would prompt repeat, board told
— With the Obama adminstration's stance that Yucca Mountain is not an option for disposing the nation's highly radioactive waste, Congress will revisit the process for choosing another repository site, one that probably will draw opposition similar to Nevada's wherever it is. That was the upshot Thursday of a presentation to an independent review board . . . RJ.com
June 10, 2009 —
GOP plan would increase nuclear waste destined for Yucca
— A new energy plan unveiled today by House Republicans streamlines expanding nuclear power plants and the amount of spent nuclear fuel destined for a proposed Yucca Mountain repository — Las Vegas Sun
July 31, 2009 —
Reid declares Yucca victory: Senator says licensing funds erased — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he dealt a fatal blow to the funding-starved Yucca Mountain Project on Thursday, announcing that President Barack Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu have agreed to eliminate all money for pursuing a license for the nuclear waste disposal project in 2011 — LRJ.com (More Coverage - Las Vegas Sun)
(Editorial - Las Vegas Sun)
July 30, 2009 — Senate passes energy bill that kills Yucca facility: WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday passed a $34.3 billion energy spending bill that backs up President Barack Obama's promise to close the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada — AP
July 30, 2009 —Yep, waste dump still on track for deep-sixing — Efforts to reignite Yucca project fail as Senate passes spending bill . . . . WASHINGTON — Another sign of the possible demise of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could be seen Wednesday on the floor of the Senate as the chamber worked its way through the annual energy spending bill for 2010 — Las Vegas Sun
July 22, 2009 —Senator offers Yucca proposal: Amendment to defense bill calls for consideration . . . An amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for possible inclusion in the 2010 defense authorization bill, calls for "consideration of Yucca Mountain" for disposing the Defense Department's spent nuclear fuel, special nuclear materials "and other waste arising from the production, storage or maintenance of nuclear weapons" including nuclear weapons components — RJ.com
July 21, 2009 — AP Interview: NRC to press ahead with Yucca review — WASHINGTON: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will press ahead with its review of a license for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada, even as the Obama administration has made clear it is abandoning the project, the commission’s chairman said Tuesday — AP
July 19, 2009 —Despite Obama’s opposition, Congress tangles over Yucca Washington — President Barack Obama’s plan to terminate the Yucca Mountain project has not stopped pro-dump lawmakers from trying to resurrect the nuclear waste repository north of Las Vegas. No fewer than six amendments to the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill were offered last week by Republicans to keep Yucca Mountain alive
— Las Vegas Sun
July 10, 2009 —
Utilities Seek to Halt Nuclear Waste Fee: The nuclear industry is contemplating something akin to a rent strike — Since the early 1980s, utilities have been paying the Energy Department a fee of one tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour generated in reactors, to pay for a nuclear waste repository. In exchange for the payments, the department signed contracts promising to take the wastes beginning in 1997. . . . . nytimes
July 10, 2009 —After Yucca Mountain: How to store US nuclear waste With the planned Yucca Mountain storage facility now out of the picture, a policy paper in this week's edition of Science suggests that the US should consider planning for several regional storage facilities instead — Science
July 09, 2009 —
Experts call for local and regional control of sites for radioactive waste:
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The withdrawal of Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository has reopened the debate over how and where to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste — Eurekalert.org
July 08, 2009 —Utilities Seek to Suspend Nuclear Waste Payments -- U.S. nuclear utilities say they shouldn’t have to pay an estimated $769 million this year toward a waste repository since the U.S. is abandoning the Yucca Mountain site and hasn’t settled on another disposal plan — Bloomberg.com
August 24, 2009 — Yucca Mountain Funding Nears Its Demise — WASHINGTON -- House and Senate Democrats are well on their way to helping the Obama administration kill Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository (see GSN, July 30). globalsecuritynewswire.org
August 22, 2009 — US's Yucca Mountain nuclear project in meltdown — If James Bond villain Ernst Blofeld is looking for a new secret base, some interesting real estate may be about to come on the market. telegraph.co.uk
August 17, 2009 — Nuclear waste discussion moves to Plan D — For more than 20 years, the government’s plan to dispose of highly radioactive spent fuel piling up at U.S. nuclear power reactors has been to haul it to Yucca Mountain and entomb it in a maze of tunnels. But this year, more than a decade before the first shipment was ever expected to arrive at the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and years before a license could have been approved for the project, the Obama administration halted funding, saying the Nevada site was “not an option.” That prompted a group of university experts on nuclear waste policy to explore another plan — RJ.com Download the report —Plan D for Spent Nuclear Fuel
August 12, 2009 —
Feds withheld negative Yucca data, say Nevada officials . . . Nevada officials say they have found evidence that the Energy Department withheld data in a licensing request that would prove a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain would fail — Las Vegas Sun
August 12, 2009 —Examiners approve $10 million to fight Yucca licensing . . . The contract is with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Egan Fitzpatrick & Malsch, which specializes in law involving the nuclear regulatory process and has represented Nevada in its battle to block opening the nuclear waste dump since 2002 — Nevada Appeal
August 04, 2009 — Is There a Place for Nuclear Waste? Yucca Mountain was supposed to be the answer to the U.S.'s nuclear waste problem, but after 22 years and $9 billion, that vision is dead. Now, some say that doing nothing in the near term may be the smartest solution [4 Pages] By Matthew L. Wald - Puplished in Scientific America
August 01, 2009 — Gibbons to Reid: Kill Yucca already: Senate leader asked to repeal law to stop project and licensing — CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons challenged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday to "put up or shut up" about working to stop Yucca Mountain from being used as the nation's nuclear repository — AP
September 23, 2009 —
U.S. Panel Shifts Focus to Reusing Nuclear Fuel — With a federal plan to handle nuclear waste in deadlocked disarray, an advisory panel that has spent 20 years studying a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain turned Wednesday to discussing ways of reusing the fuel instead New York Times
September 15, 2009 —
A nuclear waste solution — Yucca Mountain may never be used, but a physicist lays out his argument favoring repositories over costly reprocessing, By Frank von Hippel, Editorial — New York Times
October 21, 2009 — Boos as Obama taps Yucca supporter — Anti-nuclear groups are fighting the Obama administration’s nomination of a pro-Yucca Mountain nuclear industry insider to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — Las Vegas Sun
October 14, 2009 —
Republicans point to cost of nuclear waste
— Cheaper is better when it comes to shouldering taxpayers with the burden of dealing with the nuclear power industry's mounting piles of highly radioactive waste. That's the view along party lines when Congress tackles the issue in pending legislation and in a request to the Government Accountability Office — RJ.com
October 10, 2009 —Obama names two for NRC — Both commissioner seats are open — George Apostolakis is a professor of nuclear science at MIT and William Magwood is a former DOE nuclear energy official. The White House announced the nominations Friday, Oct 9, which is a "dead zone" for media coverage. Both appointments have been rumored for some time. Last July the New York Times published an assessment by Climate Wire — theenergycollective.com
November 16, 2009 — Nuclear industry weighs in on nuke dump license
— The nuclear industry's lobbying arm has suggested that work continue on a license request from the Energy Department to build a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, even though President Barack Obama has signaled an end to it — Las Vegas Sun
December 30, 2009 —
Nye girds for Yucca closure — The approval of 17 annual contracts totaling $2.2 million for the Nye County Yucca Mountain Project oversight program were routinely approved by county commissioners this past month as usual. But this time it's questionable whether there will be funding — Pahrump Valley Tiems
December 22, 2009 — Yucca Mountain Project experiencing brain drain: WASHINGTON -- The acting head of the Yucca Mountain Project is retiring at the end of the month along with another top official, the latest to depart the shrinking nuclear waste program, the Department of Energy confirmed — Stephens Washington Bureau
December 2009 —One Million Years of Isolation: An Interview With Abraham Van Luik: One Million Years of Isolation How did you start designing a project like Yucca Mountain, when you’re dealing with such enormous timescales and geological complexity— worldchanging.com [Print Version 15 Pages - 7MB ]
December 14, 2009 — YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Licensing efforts continue — Department of Energy lawyers are forging ahead with their defense of a license application to build the nation's nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain — RJ.com
December 02, 2009 —Report: Yucca Mountain costs double other alternatives — WASHINGTON -- A government report released today [see link above] said developing Yucca Mountain would cost twice as much as other options for storing nuclear waste, but that both interim or on-site storage alternatives would face long-term costs and potential political pitfalls — Las Vegas Sun [Related Story—NYtimes.com]
January 06, 2009 —
March 26, 2009 — 
Here’s the new administration’s budget
March 06, 2009 — 
March 04, 2009 —
— State of Nevada
April 09, 2009 — 
July 31, 2009 —
July 10, 2009 —
With the planned Yucca Mountain storage facility now out of the picture, a policy paper in this week's edition of Science suggests that the US should consider planning for several regional storage facilities instead — Science 
nuclear power reactors has been to haul it to Yucca Mountain and entomb it in a maze of tunnels. But this year, more than a decade before the first shipment was ever expected to arrive at the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and years before a license could have been approved for the project, the Obama administration halted funding, saying the Nevada site was “not an option.” That prompted a group of university experts on nuclear waste policy to explore another plan — RJ.com
Download the report — 
August 01, 2009 — 
![The Nuclear Wait [Graphic- 250KB]](../pdf-news/the_nuclear_wait09.jpg){kind=link}