If Doc Hastings and Patty Murray are right -- and we think they are -- the shutdown going on at Yucca Mountain in Nevada is illegal.
Under the two lawmakers' theory, agreed to by 91 members of Congress, the Department of Energy is using money it doesn't have to do work it is not authorized to do and all in defiance of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Congress.
The effort is to close operations at the nuclear repository. The justification DOE offers is an odd one, if we understand it: They will close the site because Barack Obama said he would do so back when he was a senator campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president.
The fact the election turned out the way it did doesn't change the law Congress passed establishing the site.
Usually administrations employ foot-dragging on projects they disfavor rather than out-and-out defiance of Congress.
This time, DOE has taken money intended for the construction of the repository and is spending it on the unlawful termination of the project.
No excuses are offered. No rationale. Just raw arrogance and a display of power.
Interestingly enough, Democrats are among the 91 who signed a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, that was written by Murray, D-Wash., and Hastings, R-Wash.
The letter was signed by 24 senators, two of them Democrats, and 67 representatives, 12 of them Democrats.
Washington state leaders signing the letter, in addition to Murray and Hastings, were Democratic Reps. Norm Dicks, Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen and Republican Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and David Reichert. Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican, also signed.
"We are deeply disappointed that the department has overstepped its bounds and has ignored congressional intent without peer review or proper scientific documentation in its actions regarding Yucca Mountain," the letter said.
As we've said before, Obama's campaign pledge was intended to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hold onto his seat.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 52 percent of voters participating in a recent survey had an unfavorable opinion of Reid, 33 percent had a favorable view and another 15 percent said they're neutral. In early December, a Mason-Dixon poll put his unfavorable-favorable rating at 49-38. The lowest Reid's popularity had slipped before in the surveys was 50 percent -- in October, August and May of 2009, when Mason-Dixon Polls started tracking the Senate race for the Review-Journal.
Incumbents with numbers like that usually take them as an exit cue.
Reid, 70, vows to fight on. But keeping the nuclear repository out of Nevada is beginning to look like a very shaky accomplishment on which to base a campaign.
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Nuclear Regulation Commission allows Yucca closure to continue
Nuclear Regulation Commission allows Yucca closure to continue
WASHINGTON -- A divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday allowed the Obama administration to continue with plans to close the Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear waste repository, where Hanford waste was planned to be sent.
The commission split, 2-2, on whether to uphold or reject a decision by an independent nuclear licensing board. The board voted last year to block the Department of Energy from withdrawing its application for Yucca Mountain. The licensing board said the government failed to make a scientific case for why the application should be withdrawn.
Despite the split vote, the NRC said in an order Friday that the licensing board should continue steps to close out work on Yucca Mountain by the end of the month, citing "budgetary limitations."
GOP candidates disappoint with nuclear waste policy
GOP candidates disappoint with nuclear waste policy
If you're looking for an example of what's wrong with the way we nominate presidential candidates, the recent GOP debate in Las Vegas ought to suffice.
Republican hopefuls -- Newt Gingrich excepted -- rushed to align themselves with President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the issue of nuclear waste disposal.
Few Herald readers will need reminding that last year the Obama administration unilaterally ordered the Department of Energy to shut down the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository program near Las Vegas.
McMorris Rodgers, Cantwell among millionaires in Congress
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WASHINGTON -- The economy may be suffering, but members of Congress appear to be doing quite well, with nearly half of them ranking as millionaires, according to a study released Tuesday.
In Washington, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, are the wealthiest among the 249 current members of Congress who are millionaires.
That means 47 percent of the 535 members are millionaires. Only about 1 percent of Americans are millionaires.
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
WASHINGTON -- The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, which cost an estimated
$15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday.
In its final report, the 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission recommended immediate efforts to develop at least one geologic disposal facility for long-term handling of nuclear waste. Any effort to site a disposal facility must have community support, it said.
The report also suggested building regional storage sites that would be open for up to 100 years while officials seek to complete a permanent burial site.
Panel urges handling Hanford waste
Panel urges handling Hanford waste
The possibility of disposing of Hanford's high-level radioactive waste while a solution continues to be worked out for spent commercial nuclear fuel was raised Thursday at a Senate hearing.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questioned leaders of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future on its findings at a hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. On Wednesday, Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., a candidate for governor, questioned commission leaders at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Economy.
The commission issued its final recommendation last week, calling for the nation to look for a location "by consensus" where a new national repository for high-level defense waste and used commercial fuel will be welcome. It also called for the development of storage sites to be used in the meantime.
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