not in yucca mountain, not anywhere. and we had better figure out as a nation before we start building more nuclear power plants that create more nuclear waste what we are going to do with the byproduct of nuclear energy which is the nuclear waste. this country has been single focused and the people of nevada have said year after year, decade after decade, we are not the answer, we don't want to be this nation's garbage pan and garbage dump for this nation's nuclear waste. we do not produce one nanogram, not one speck of energy using nuclear in the state of nevada. so why should we be accepting everybody's nuclear waste? if you have a nuclear power plant in your district, in your state, well, that's fine, then you figure out what you're going to do with the nuclear waste that's produced by creating nuclear energy. the idea that nevada should be the repository and some people call it the is he posstory for nuclear waste in this -- sepository for nuclear waste is an absurdity. we thank the president of the united states fo

repository at yucca mountain?. >> we're going to be turning momentarily onto a road that's a little bit rougher. >> reporter: ten miles across the high nevada desert, i find all roads to yucca lined with stones and potholes. that doesn't sound good. >> i may have just done in a tire. >> reporter: i feel like i've been kidney punched. what do we got? oh, man. >> sidewall. >> yeah. >> reporter: it pays to have a backup in case of a blowout. >> that's the problem with these rocks. it just poked a hole in the side. >> reporter: too bad nobody thought to have one for yucca. the entire time this work was going on with this mountain, did anybody say anything about what they could use it for if the nuclear repository didn't work? >> no. that stuff has started very recently and people talked about that. >> reporter: 25 years, $10 billion, there was no plan "b"? >> no. >> reporter: it was supposed to be the solution to the scourge of the nuclear age, the one-best place to store radioactive waste. it was talked about for 50

the only facility that meets this description is yucca mountain. yet the obama administration has shut down work on yucca and filed a motion to withdraw its license application. so that the natural question is: what happens to the money in the nuclear waste fund since it can't be spent on anything other than the construction of the yucca mountain repository? well, the nuclear waste policy act directs the secretary o secf energy to adjust the fee if the amount is in excess of the amount needed to meet the cost of the repository or it is insufficient. now, it is hard to see how the $24 billion balance in the fund is not sufficient to pay for work on a facility where no more work will ever occur. utilities have then suggested that the fee be dispensed with. but secretary chu said that the collection will continue. so some ratepayers will continue to pay a higher electricity bill to contribute to a fund that no longer serves a purpose, at least until the courts should rule otherwise. now if or perhaps when the courts order the reduction of the fee and r

there is moisture in yucca mountain. they said let's build a cannister to store the waste. but they did say the possibility that the cannister would leach into the groundwater. they said since the mountain is a natural repository and the cannisters didn't exist and if they did exist, they couldn't protect the groundwater of leaching of nuke collar waste, that we -- nuclear waste. and then they came up with a brilliant plan in the last administration that there would be an army of robots because it would be too dangerous for a human being to go down to yucca mountain. so an army of robots that would have to be invented to go down to yucca mountains to seal the cannisters that don't exist in yucca mountain that is a natural repository. this is what we have been dealing with over two decades. the u.s. circuit of appeals overruled a decision because you know what? the shelf life of nuclear waste is 300,000 years. so that made no sense either. the nuclear industry continues and its allies to talk about putting nuclear waste at yucca mountain, nevada. that plan is so dead, because

of tunnel vision. >> there's never been a fall back or plan b, just little steps to move yucca mountain. >> reporter: now it is a monument to all this red tape? >> that's right. >> i could probably use it as land fill and put garbage in. >> reporter: county commissioner says the closing slams the door of 4,000 construction jobs in nevada as well as 1,500 permanent jobs once the facility was supposed to be up and running. did you have a bigger revenue source in this county? >> are you kidding me? it would take a whole lot of cows to mess up $40 million. >> reporter: a hole in the ground is no joke. senator reid is asking the

>> guest: i for one and not sure yucca mountain is totally out of the picture.obviously while harry reid is the head of the senate it is, but so much money has been spent on it and it is such a good site having been so well reinforced that i don't know at the end of the day we will walk away from it but again that will be up to the department of energy and the nuclear regulatory commission. is at one side, two or three sites where the 100 and four sites we have today? >> host: good morning, a republican color. >> caller: good morning and good morning c-span listeners. i am wondering why nobody has gotten interested in t. boone pickens. i can remember as a kid, when oil wells were all over colin i around ultima, illinois and every one of the wells had these burning things of gas. everybody even then thought what a waste. they have not use that gas. i know there aren't so many oil wells now but there are wells that are cap, and they be oil has built up in them. if they were to use the fuel as t. boone pickens suggest suggests i just wonder why i never hear the med

even harry reid says he is not against nuclear, is just against yucca mountain. host: republican line. caller: good morning, everyone. i would like to come to ms. whitman's defense of the first responders issue. what are these first responders thinking about? it is hot, like you separate these people should have thought before they went in and tried to save their butts. you are right. guest: thank you. i don't fault them for wanting to do everything they wanted to do. i was on the side a couple of times. i feel really bad that we were not able to ensure that the way they did the pentagon, where the military controls pentagon site and they did not let anybody on without respirators. you did not have any of the problems you have to date with the first responders at the new york city site. it was a difficult thing, a two- tier message that epa has to get out for the responders on the site and the people downtown in general and lower manhattan in general. but those people were focused on making a difference, and it was just heart wrenching -- many of them had not jus

we're doing with spent fuel the the congress said there should be one repository and the name yucca mountain so they have to take the next step and make the decision is it going to be one or two or three or are you going to leave them on sight. >> guest: >> host: would you know of the policy in terms of nuclear beyond what they've done here with the federal loan guarantees for the reactors and georgia? >> guest: in granting these what they're doing is saying we are serious nuclear should be part of the future. they're looking at the broad picture a 23% increase by 2030 to, they're looking at commitments to climate change, clean air in general and the fact nuclear is the only base cover that releases one of those regulated pollutants or greenhouse gases while producing power and it's a base power so it's always on and there so while they are still going to be putting their money as they should and interesting forms of green power in the renewables as well as conservation they say if we are going to meet the increase in demand by 2030 that's not far away we have to start today fear going to me

wilson: spending is killed for yucca mountain. without a safe and secure area like yucca mountain, nuclear research won't continue. last year, the charleston post and courier blasted the president's decision as breathtakingly irresponsible. on february 17 they said the president's lack of faith in using yucca mountain for nuclear waste sends a mixed signal to americans. the "greenville news" said the obama administration has broken a longstanding federal promise to deal with the nuclear waste. in "the lexington chronicle," an editorial said liberals would stick us with nuclear waste. i urge congress and the administration to put politics aside on this issue. it is a serious implication for america's nuclear future. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. bish

even harry reid says he is not against nuclear, is just against yucca mountain.lican line. caller: good morning, everyone. i would like to come to ms. whitman's defense of the first responders issue. what are these first responders thinking about? it is hot, like you separate these people should have thought before they went in and tried to save their butts. you are right. guest: thank you. i don't fault them for wanting to do everything they wanted to do. i was on the side a couple of times. i feel really bad that we were not able to ensure that the way they did the pentagon, where the military controls pentagon site and they did not let anybody on without respirators. you did not have any of the problems you have to date with the first responders at the new york city site. it was a difficult thing, a two- tier message that epa has to get out for the responders on the site and the people downtown in general and lower manhattan in general. but those people were focused on making a difference, and it was just heart wrenching -- many of them had not just good frien