Sponsors (2)
The bill trades ending the Yucca Mountain repository effort and reclaiming the site (reducing local environmental and safety concerns) for shifted national spent-fuel burdens, potential higher costs and legal uncertainty, while directing a short, potentially limited federal study to explore redevelopment options.
Residents near Yucca Mountain and surrounding communities will avoid becoming a long-term spent nuclear fuel host, reducing perceived safety hazards and downward pressure on property values.
The bill requires DOE to reclaim the Yucca site and mitigate significant environmental harms, which could reduce contamination risks and restore local lands.
Ending the Yucca licensing process removes an uncertain, long-term federal project and the potential for future taxpayer funding obligations tied to construction and oversight of the repository.
States, localities, and communities currently storing spent fuel could continue to bear long-term storage risks and costs if no alternative federal repository plan is advanced.
Repealing prior congressional approvals and halting the NRC licensing process could create legal and administrative uncertainty and prompt litigation over spent fuel policy and past funding commitments.
Utility customers and nuclear operators may face higher costs or fewer options for long-term spent fuel management without a designated repository pathway.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Withdraws DOE's Yucca Mountain application, ends NRC licensing, bars the site for a repository, requires reclamation, and orders an OMB study on alternative uses within 180 days.
Official title: Terminate the Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding and require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit to Congress a study on the economic viability and job-creating benefits of alternative uses of the Yucca Mountain site, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 4, 2026 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress August 4, 2026
Repeals prior statutory approvals for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, requires the Department of Energy to withdraw its construction authorization application and terminates the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing proceeding for that site. It bars the Secretary of Energy from considering Yucca Mountain as a repository in the future, directs reclamation and mitigation of site characterization impacts, and orders an OMB study (due within 180 days) on alternative, job-creating uses for the site including defense, renewable energy, and research.