NYE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE ON YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY

摘要

Nye County has participated in Department of Energy efforts to develop a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for almost three decades. The future of Yucca Mountain is now uncertain because political actions at the Federal and State level have derailed the process established in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. That framework survived four administrations and 14 Congresses, until 2009, when the new President aligned with Nevada's opposition. The question is whether it is possible to establish a process for development of facilities for disposal or storage of nuclear waste that will survive over the decades required to site and license such facilities. A related question is whether it is possible to site such facilities so long as state governments can, in effect, veto the site regardless of local support. What is clear is that the responsible entity must communicate and work closely with the local government that would host the facility. The local government, in turn, must take responsibility for its participation in the process since a State cannot be relied upon to have the local community's interests as its principal focus.