WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marvin Fertel, the Nuclear Energy Institute's president and chief executive officer, made the following comments about today's nuclear waste management hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy.
"The big news coming out of today's hearing was the clear message from committee members that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should act immediately to complete the Yucca Mountain safety evaluation reports. The nuclear energy industry agrees. We applaud the committee's bipartisan leadership, particularly Chairman Upton, subcommittee Chairman Shimkus and Chairman Emeritus Dingell, for pressing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to prioritize on the element of the project that offers the most judicious use of the limited funds available.
"To date, four of the five reports that were anticipated have not been completed or published. It is crucial to the licensing process to know, via their completion, whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff believes that the Energy Department's safety analysis for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository satisfies applicable regulatory requirements.
"The law requires the NRC review the Yucca Mountain license application, and consumers of electricity generated by America's 100 reactors deserve to know whether Yucca Mountain is a safe site for the permanent disposal of used nuclear fuel. They have contributed nearly $35 billion in fees and interest to the federal government specifically for used nuclear fuel management."
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