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Trump tweets reversal of push for Nevada nuclear waste dump, MyNorthWest, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 LAS VEGAS (AP) — PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ON THURSDAY APPEARED TO REVERSE HIS POSITION ON A PROPOSAL TO CREATE A NATIONAL NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN IN NEVADA AFTER HIS ADMINISTRATION TRIED FOR SEVERAL YEARS TO REVIVE THE MOTHBALLED PROJECT.

“Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you!” Trump said in a tweet. “Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions – my Administration is committed to exploring innovative approaches – I’m confident we can get it done!

Adam Laxalt, Trump’s Republican re-election campaign chief in Nevada, said he believed the president was expressing support for opponents of the project, which was first proposed in the 1980s to entomb 77,000 tons (70,000 metric tons) of the nation’s most highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel in tunnels under an ancient volcanic ridge northwest of Las Vegas.

Laxalt, a former state attorney general, fought federal efforts to resume work at the site using a wide range of objections revolving around safety, security and science.

Yucca Mountain was among topics he said he discussed with the president last weekend at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Laxalt on Thursday tweeted thanks to Trump, saying, “We are so fortunate that you listened to us.”

“I know others have been speaking with him about Yucca Mountain,” Laxalt told The Associated Press. “We don’t support it. It’s not good for the state.”

Trump administration officials and Nevada’s congressional delegation did not immediately have details to share about the president’s new position.

The U.S. Department of Energy referred questions about the president’s tweet to the White House. The White House referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget, which did not immediately respond.

State officials have argued that seismic activity and nearby Air Force testing would make the site about 100 miles (161 kilometers) from Las Vegas unsuitable to safely store radioactive material from elsewhere in the U.S.

Nevada is a political swing state that Trump lost in 2016. His re-election campaign is targeting Nevada in 2020 as a battleground state it hopes to capture.

As a presidential candidate, Trump was ambiguous about the Yucca Mountain project. Once he took office, his administration included requests for money to revive federal licensing for the project in his budget proposals, though Nevada’s congressional delegation successfully fought to keep the funding out of the budget…….. https://mynorthwest.com/1705762/trump-backs-away-from-push-for-nevada-nuclear-waste-dump/?