Gov. Gregoire�s statement on Yucca Mountain decision

For Immediate Release: June 29, 2010

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today issued the following statement on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission�s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board decision today to deny the federal Department of Energy�s motion to withdraw �with prejudice� its license application for the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository:

�Today, the safety and licensing board -- a panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission � ruled in favor of Washington and other states, saying the federal energy agency can�t withdraw Yucca without public hearings and a final NRC decision. The board said the energy agency doesn�t have the authority to abandon a siting process that Congress started when it passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.

�It would be a mistake, at this late stage, to abandon Yucca Mountain as the national nuclear repository. Here in our state, the federal government�s construction of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, which began in 2001, is nearly halfway done. The $12.3 billion plant, which is expected to be completed in 2019, was designed to meet specific standards of the Yucca facility.

�Currently, there are no other alternatives for repositories being considered. With nowhere to store treated waste, those billions of dollars already invested in the WTP could be wasted. We can�t allow that to happen, and we�re pleased that the federal licensing panel ruled against abandoning Yucca.�