Sandoval says Nevada will fight any bid to revive Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project

CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval said he isn’t going to abandon his longstanding opposition to creation of a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, whether or not President-elect Donald Trump or Congress renew efforts to entomb radioactive materials at the site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Sandoval said Monday he has not yet had a conversation with Trump and does not know his position on Yucca Mountain.

“It won’t change my position on Yucca Mountain,” Sandoval said. “As far as I am concerned the state will continue to aggressively oppose the siting of storage of high-level nuclear waste there.”

The Republican governor’s comments came as Bloomberg News quoted two unidentified people familiar with Trump’s transition planning as saying that efforts to revive the project are actively being discussed. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the discussions were being fueled by growing pressure to find a permanent home for more than 70,000 metric tons of radioactive waste currently being stored at nuclear power plants around the country and the impending retirement of the project’s most ardent foe, Nevada’s Sen. Harry Reid.

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