March 06, 2025
Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Criticizes Nuclear Regulatory Commission Decision; Pledges to Continue Fighting Against Yucca Mountain Project
CARSON CITY, NV — Today, the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects criticized a decision by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which failed to lift the suspension of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project licensing proceeding, a necessary step before the NRC could consider three Nevada planned motions for summary disposition.
These motions identified significant safety flaws in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) license application for the project, which the NRC itself has acknowledged and should have led to the denial of the application and the termination of the project.
“We gave the Nuclear Regulatory Commission the opportunity to dismiss this ill-advised project once and for all and their decision to not lift the suspension and take up the motions is deeply disappointing,” said Fred Dilger, Executive Director for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. “It’s critical for our state to ensure safety and security for future generations and prevent radioactive contamination of our precious natural resources. Rest assured; the State of Nevada will continue to fight this reckless proposal with the same determination we have for the past 40 years.”
Project Background:
• Nevada has not and will not support the Yucca Mountain project.
• The failed Yucca Mountain project, which bipartisan Nevada leaders have opposed for decades because of flaws with the site and the DOE’s design for the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository, has not been funded since 2011.
• The DOE plan involves transporting at least 77,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors across the country to Nevada for entombment in a series of tunnels in porous volcanic rock located above the water table in Yucca Mountain, which is 65 miles from populated areas of Clark County, Nevada.