No solution appears in sight to the nation’s growing problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste. A bipartisan group in the Senate is drafting a bill to address a blue ribbon panel’s recommendations for nuclear waste disposal, but with little time left in the current congressional session, no major nuclear waste bill is expected to go anywhere this year.
Moreover, with the Obama administration sticking to its 2009 decision to nix the repository site beneath Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, there has been no progress toward finding a permanent place to store spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Many observers believe that if no permanent repository for spent fuel is built, the nuclear power industry’s long-hoped for “renaissance” will not happen.