The Government must live up to its responsibility and provide for the eventual safe disposal of commercial spent fuel that is currently stored at these sites.
Good morning, I would like to welcome the first panel in today's hearing-Dr. Lyons and Mr. Weber representing the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission respectively.
The programs related to nuclear waste at the Department of Energy and the NRC impact many regions of the country and in particular those, like my district, where a nuclear power plant is, or was, in operation. The Government must live up to its responsibility and provide for the eventual safe disposal of commercial spent fuel that is currently stored at these sites.
Further, the Government has an obligation to safely package and store the high-level radioactive waste generated by the nuclear weapons program.
In the wake of the Administration's decision to terminate Yucca Mountain, the nation does not currently have a solution to this pressing problem. We have spent enormous sums of money on Yucca, yet we have nothing to show for that investment.
In January, the Department of Energy outlined its new strategy for the management and disposal of this waste based on the work done by the Blue Ribbon Commission. This strategy outlines the Administration's new approach to disposal of this waste, one in which we are essentially starting from scratch.
With the second panel, we will hear from Mr. Rosco representing GAO, Ms. Eisenhower who served on the Blue Ribbon Commission and Dr. Ewing with the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
I look forward to the insights that this panel can give from a perspective outside the programs managed by the DOE and NRC.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman for the time.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
