Rep. Pearce Welcomes Nuclear Waste Report

WASHINGTON – Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said Friday he welcomed a federal report released Thursday that calls for a major overhaul of nuclear waste policy and hopes it will jump-start efforts to find permanent places to store the nation’s nuclear power waste.

“Let’s get the study right, get the consent right and let’s get moving,” Pearce told the Journal Friday. “Let’s do things that need to be done.”

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future – a panel of policy experts commissioned by Energy Secretary Steven Chu that included former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. – issued its 180-page report Thursday after nearly two years of study. The report found a dire need for new nuclear waste facilities and cited the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, which stores nuclear waste nearCarlsbad, as a good example of how to go about siting a controversial waste dump.

The report doesn’t make specific recommendations about where to build new nuclear waste facilities. Pearce is a strong proponent of WIPP and has suggested that southeasternNew Mexicobe considered for even more radioactive nuclear waste.

“Probably the most telling thing is I like the consent of the local populations,” Pearce said of the report. “That’s the key for me. I don’t think any of us like anything like this forced on people any place.”

Former New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici told the Journal this week southeasternNew Mexico is a “highly probable site in the future” for additional nuclear waste, but it will likely be years before any new decisions on locating nuclear waste facilities are made.