Wilson Introduces Legislation to Force Action on Yucca Mountain Project

Today, Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) introduced H.R. 4625, the Yucca Utilization to Control Contamination Act (YUCCA).

In 2002, President George W. Bush approved Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the location for our nation's nuclear repository, which was previously authorized by Congress in 1987. In 2010, President Obama zeroed out the funding for the project. The proposed legislation requires the President to certify Yucca Mountain as the designated site for our country's high-level radioactive waste repository. If the Administration fails to follow through, it enacts the following penalties:

1) Utility Companies across the country will no longer be forced to make payments to the Nuclear Trust Fund.

2) The utility company will receive the deposits it has contributed to the Nuclear Trust Fund (75% of those funds will be used to reduce rates for ratepayers and 25% will be used for infrastructure improvement).

3) No later than January 1, 2017, Defense Waste MUST begin to be moved to Yucca Mountain. If this requirement is not met, the Department of Energy will be required to pay up to $100 million a year to the states holding the waste.

Wilson stated, "Over the past twenty-nine years, South Carolinians have paid over $1.3 billion dollars for the establishment of a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, making our state the third highest contributor. The President's decision to cut this project is another prime example of how this Administration continues to put party politics over sound policy. In efforts to keep the government accountable, I have introduced legislation requiring the President to follow through with the Yucca Mountain project. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure the people of South Carolina ?receive the services they have already paid for with hard-earned taxpayer dollars."