ANS takes action on Yucca Mountain
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Room 2362-B
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6020
Dear Chairman Hobson:
On behalf of the 11,000 members of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), I am writing to convey our support for funding of the Department of Energy's Nuclear Waste Disposal program at Yucca Mountain at $880 million in fiscal year 2005. The Department's budget request for this program assumed enactment of legislation to reclassify the fees collected from utilities and paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund as discretionary offsetting collections. As the legislation has not been enacted, we understand the severe constraint this places on the ability of your subcommittee to fund the program at the suggested level within the allocation you have been provided. Still, we believe the need to support this funding level is compelling.
Without $880 million in 2005, the Department will be unable to complete and submit the license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by December. A significant delay in this schedule will impede the ability of the Department to begin operations at Yucca Mountain by 2010. While the nation's commercial and defense high-level waste is currently safely managed at numerous locations throughout the country, isolating these wastes in one geologic repository is critical to support growth in the use of nuclear power and ensure uninterrupted operation of our fleet of plants.
As your subcommittee deliberates on many important issues related to Yucca Mountain and nuclear science and technology, please do not hesitate to call upon the resources of the American Nuclear Society for assistance.
Sincerely,
Larry Foulke
ANS President
