Science elevated in new waste solution search

Rep. Matheson also said he would support proposed legislation to create a blue ribbon commission to conduct the kind of non-political scientific process on disposal of high level nuclear waste he does not believe was ever done on the Yucca Mountain project.

“As our new Energy Secretary has stated, spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored for decades in dry cask storage on site. Scientific experts will be able to use this time—and some of the money saved by halting the flawed Yucca Mountain repository—to analyze options for the enduring question of what to do with the waste from our nuclear reactors,” said Matheson.

Matheson said among the things that should be done with the new commission that was not done in the previous process is to consider transportation risks as part of any alternative.